


Monsters Human and Demonic

by Chillmaster3000



Series: Portals, Demons, & Bastards [4]
Category: Leverage, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Political Animals, Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Definitely some language, Family Drama, Hallucinations, Minor Violence, Multi, Pregnancy, Somewhat justified fear of dinosaurs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 57,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9652001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillmaster3000/pseuds/Chillmaster3000
Summary: Ben, Caleb, and Eliza have settled their growing family in 2012, but that doesn't mean life is giving them a break. SHIELD, demons, and Eliza's family keep interfering, and Ben's dealing with a nagging voice that just won't go away...Mostly Political Animals and Marvel with Turn main characters and a special appearance by Leverage International





	1. Ben One

Four months after their arrival in the 21st century, things have pretty much settled for the Tallmadge-Brewster family.

Ben has a job now. He works for the Smithsonian, transcribing historical documents to their computer archives. Usually they require a degree for this position, Ben’s superior tells him, but the recommendation from the Secretary of State and his incredible skill deciphering old text makes the museum more than happy to have him. Ben can also read older iterations of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, which makes him invaluable to inter-museum relations. One or two scholars in those languages have gotten very upset with him for taking ten minutes to read through something that took them several hours. 

Eliza stays home with Nathaniel for now. Most employers are reluctant to hire someone who would have to go on maternity leave soon after starting, so Eliza’s resigned herself to doing some freelance work online until the baby’s old enough to be left with a sitter. Nathaniel’s fairly happy with the arrangement- Eliza’s been taking him exploring while Ben’s at work, and Nathaniel gets to learn all about this new world. When Ben gets home, Nathaniel insists they go back to the favorites of the day. 

Caleb’s schedule is less routine. Sometimes, he can go with Eliza and Nathaniel on their explorations for a few days. Sometimes they don’t see him for a week. Other times he has a schedule close to Ben’s own work schedule. Ben’s figured out that Caleb’s job is both dangerous and probably more stressful than Caleb lets on, but Caleb refuses to talk about it. There are nights when Caleb just won’t speak at all; he comes in late at night and climbs into bed between Ben and Eliza, utterly quiet. They’ve learned not to ask what happened, even though they want desperately to know what’s wrong, but just move in close. Caleb’s very clingy those nights. 

Eliza’s brother T.J. comes over at least once a week. He plays with Nathaniel, helps set up the nursery for the new baby, and seeks their approval. Ben is apparently the last to know that T.J. is a drug addict who has never been able to stick with a job or school very long. Caleb assures both Ben and Eliza that T.J. hasn’t been using when he comes over. That’s really all they can demand of him, Ben supposes, but it’s only somewhat comforting. 

They don’t see much of the rest of Eliza’s family. Elaine and Margaret seem to take turns calling Eliza on her cellphone. Douglas occasionally shows up with something Elaine or Anne had wanted them to have. Bud calls sporadically. They see more of him and Elaine on the news than they see either in person. Elaine is busy being the Secretary of State and planning Douglas’ engagement parties, something Ben thinks should probably be Anne’s job since it’s her engagement, but Caleb is quick to tell him that Elaine has more control issues than the whole Continental Congress put together. 

Really, everything is working out well now. There are few kinks to still work out, but overall things are good.

Except for Rogers.

*

“Look at this shit.” Ben sighs. He’s sitting at his work desk with the latest batch of documents to be transcribed. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the silhouette of Robert Rogers.

“You were the head of intelligence for the Continental Army,” Rogers says. “Now look at you. You’re nothing more than a glorified librarian, boy!”

“I’m trying to work,” Ben says, writing out some notes. 

“You are wasting your time,” Rogers says. Ben’s hand tightens on his pen. “Come to think of it, though, there’s probably not much else you can do. Your ‘Amish’ upbringing means so little in this modern world. You couldn’t work somewhere important if you tried.”

“The preservation of our history is important,” Ben replies. 

“You are their history, Benjamin,” Rogers says. “You don’t belong here.” Ben shuts his eyes for a second to try and shut Rogers out. He doesn’t know why the spirit of Rogers seems to be haunting him, nor why he’s the only one who sees the dead man, but Rogers is hell bent on souring the little peace Ben’s carved out for himself. 

Ben’s cell phone rings on his desk. Ben opens his eyes and picks the device up. The screen reads Douglas Hammond. Ben hadn’t known he had Douglas’ phone in his contacts. But Ben answers, if only to distract from Rogers. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ben,” Douglas says, friendly tone sounding less forced than usual. “Do you get a lunchbreak?”

“Yes?” Ben answers. He looks at the clock to see it’s almost two, which means he should have gone for lunch at least an hour ago.

“You wanna come grab a bite with me?” Douglas says. “Some, uh, brotherly bonding or something?” Ben glances at Rogers’ silhouette again.

“Sure. Where did you have in mind?”

*

Ben meets Douglas at a diner. Ben has to admit, he prefers diners to the cafés and fast food places. Diners are more like the taverns and inns he’s used to, only cleaner and with better food.

“Hey, Ben.” Douglas smiles awkwardly as Ben comes up to the table. He stands up and takes Ben’s hand, clapping his free hand on Ben’s other arm. 

“It’s good to see you out of the office, Douglas,” Ben says. “You work yourself too hard.” Douglas waves to dismiss the idea. 

“The job requires long hours. I’ve gotten used to it,” he says. “Let’s sit down. Is this table good? We can move-”

“The table’s fine,” Ben interrupts. He sits across from the chair with Douglas’ jacket draped on the back. Douglas sits back down, looking relieved.

“I, um, I’m glad you agreed to meet me,” he says as they pick up menus. “How are you? How’s work?”

“Work’s fine. I read a bunch of old things written by dead people and type them up,” Ben says, echoing Caleb’s description. Douglas lets out a short laugh. “Everything’s fine with me. Eliza and the baby are doing well. Nathaniel’s talking more than ever and getting into everything he can reach.”

“That’s good. Not him getting into everything, but him doing normal, kid stuff,” Douglas says. “I imagine the getting into everything part is kind of annoying.”

“We just have to keep the sharp things out of his reach,” Ben says. “How are things with you? How’s Anne?”

“Anne’s great. Excited about the dinner tomorrow and the party at the end of the week,” Douglas says. “I’m good too. Busy. Excited.” A waitress comes over. She smiles at them.

“Afternoon, boys. Can I start you off with something to drink?” 

“Coffee,” Douglas says. 

“Make that two, please.” Ben gives the waitress a small smile in return. She nods. 

“Two coffees coming right up. I’ll be right back.” She walks away and Douglas turns back to Ben.

“So, uh, you’re probably wondering why I invited you out,” he says. “We don’t usually- I’m kind of a jackass to you most of the time.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ben says. He hadn’t, really, though he had wondered why Douglas seemed to dislike him so much. 

“No, I haven’t been very nice to you, and that’s going to stop,” Douglas says, spreading his hands on the table as if to ward off impending jackassness. “It was unfair to you. I’m really sorry about it.”

“Apology accepted,” Ben says. 

“It’s not even your fault,” Douglas says. “I mean, Eliza was just raving about you while you were sick, how nice you are, how smart you are. Then we meet you and you’re everything she said. You’re handsome, you’re tall, you’re charming, you have great hair. Everybody loves you, like, instantly.”

“That’s really kind of you,” Ben says, feeling mildly uncomfortable. 

“There it is! You’re just so polite and pretty and it really pissed me off for a while,” Douglas says, shaking his head. “I’m not so good with people.”

“I’m noticing,” Ben says before he can help himself.

“Everybody notices. I’m not charming. I’m always putting my foot in my mouth,” Douglas continues. “Everyone in my family but me is charming. Even T.J., who’s the most fucked up human being in existence some days.”

“I think he’d have to be, if he’s going to be so fucked up,” Ben says. Douglas finally seems to hear Ben speak, because he frowns in confusion at Ben. “I understand T.J. talks his way out of a lot of trouble. It wouldn’t work if he wasn’t charming.”

“Fair enough,” Douglas concedes. “Anyway, I’m sorry for being so jealous of you. It was juvenile of me to be a jerk over it.”

“I appreciate you talking to me about it,” Ben replies. “I would rather have things settled between us. And I think your sister would be the first to tell you I’m not as…perfect as you might think.”

“Yeah, hearing Mom complain about you the past few months has helped me get over that,” Douglas says. 

“Complain about me?” Ben says. “What did I do?”

“Well, honestly, I have no idea,” Douglas says. “But she really doesn’t like you for some reason.” They have to drop the conversation there, as the waitress returns with the coffee, but Ben’s got an idea of the problem. He and Elaine had been frosty since he’d found her and Bud yelling at each other with Nathaniel in the room. She’d never apologized for scaring Nathaniel and he’d never apologized for telling her off. Ben isn’t particularly convinced he’s at fault there, but having Elaine hate him is not going to make things easy.

*

Ben gets home that evening to see a black SUV with government plates outside the house. That usually means Elaine has come by. Ben’s not exactly happy with that, but she’s Eliza’s mother and Nathaniel’s grandmother and he can’t really complain about her being around. 

Ben goes up to the front door and sees someone gesticulating wildly through the window. That’s never a good sign. Ben comes in to hear his wife shouting.

“-no one’s goddamn business but ours-”

“You might have told your mother!” Elaine shouts back. Ben sighs and makes his way into the living room, where the two women are standing off. Eliza has her arms crossed over her growing belly and Elaine’s arms are spread in exasperation.

“What’s going on?” Ben says, trying to keep his voice level. They both turn to him. Only one is pleased.

“Ben. Good,” Eliza says. “Please tell my mother that Nathaniel’s medical history is only pertinent to us and his doctor. No one else.”

“Obviously,” Ben agrees, walking over to stand beside her. “What’s this about?”

“An anonymous source gave the Washington Globe the results from the DNA tests the police ran on the three of you when you arrived,” Elaine says with ice in her tone. “When were you going to tell us that Nathaniel isn’t Ben’s son?”

“He’s my son in all the ways that matter,” Ben snaps. He hates this conversation. He hated having it with Abe and he hates having it with Elaine. 

“Not biologically, which makes it a scandal,” Elaine replies. “This is going to be front page news tomorrow and it’s going to look terrible. You have an illegitimate child, Eliza-”

“Yes, but my husband has adopted the child and made him legitimate,” Eliza says acidly. “The conservatives can celebrate our commitment to family values.”

“That isn’t how most people are going to see it!” Elaine says. 

“I don’t give a shit how most people will see it!” Eliza answers. “I give a shit that my family is whole and happy! Anything else is secondary and what other people think is at the bottom of my list!”

“That’s all very well and good for you, but I’ve got a public reputation to worry about,” Elaine says. “They’re going to call you a whore and they’re going to say I raised you poorly.”

“As if they haven’t been saying that for dozens of reasons already! They look for any reason to discredit you, and attacking your parenting is one of their favorites,” Eliza says. “You don’t get to be mad at me because you put yourself back in this spotlight.”

“This is not my fault. You were the one to get pregnant-”

“Good God, this is a ridiculous conversation,” Ben interrupts. “I don’t care about the Globe or what anyone thinks. Nathaniel is my son and your yelling is as bad for him as it is for Eliza at this stage. If you’ve got nothing else to talk about, please just go.” Elaine fixes him with a glare.

“Try to look presentable tomorrow,” she says, resuming the icy tone. “The party starts at seven.” She turns on heel and walks out of the house. Eliza sighs.

“God, I hate being me sometimes,” she mutters. “We never had to deal with this shit in the 1780s.”

“The internet didn’t exist in the 1780s,” Ben says. “Neither did D-N-A tests.” Eliza leans against him. 

“Tell me your day was better than my past ten minutes.” 

“Yes, boy.” Rogers appears at the edge of Ben’s vision. “Tell her all about your day being a copyist.”

“It was fine,” Ben says. He puts an arm around Eliza. “Is Caleb back yet?”

“He took Nat outside when the SUV showed up,” Eliza replies. “Come start dinner with me?” 

“Of course.” Ben follows Eliza into the kitchen. Rogers trails behind them. 

*

After they finally put Nathaniel to bed, the three adults crash on the couch. Caleb and Eliza look absolutely exhausted, and Ben feels more than a little guilty he’s far less tired.

“How’s your job been?” Ben asks Caleb. The shorter man is curled between Ben and Eliza, his head on Ben’s shoulder while his arm is wrapped around Eliza’s shoulders.

“Messy,” Caleb says, answering the question of why he seemed freshly showered this afternoon. “I swear they’ve gotten more explode-y lately. They didn’t used to combust nearly as much.”

“So you didn’t used to come home covered in dust or slime?” Eliza says. Caleb shrugs.

“Well, sometimes. Some demons just like combusting,” he says. “More often than not they’d just sort of fall over and vanish. No clean up. Those were the days.”

“Wait until you start pulling diaper duty again,” Ben suggests, remembering Caleb’s distaste for Nathaniel’s diapers. Caleb hadn’t even gotten the really nasty ones. 

“Oh, shit, yeah,” Caleb groans.

“Yeah, this baby will shit too,” Eliza says, pulling on one of the curls in his beard. Caleb lifts his head to scowl at her. He can’t keep it up, though, and he starts to smirk.

“Maybe next time we get a kid that’s already toilet-trained and save ourselves some trouble,” he says.

“You find a kid that comes pre-trained and you got yourself a deal,” Eliza says. She nudges Ben’s leg with her foot and grins at him. Ben takes her ankle and puts her foot on his lap. 

“That’s mine now,” he says. Eliza wiggles her toes at him. 

“Careful, that’s the trouble foot.”

“You have a foot just for trouble?” Caleb asks. “I need to work out a system like that.”


	2. Ben Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic is going to be a little different. We won't have the same jumping around in the timeline. Instead, we'll have the OT3 taking turns at being the POV character. I think they'll get equal time at the end of things. Their problems won't be as clear-cut as before, which should prove interesting. As always, hit me up with questions in the comments or on Tumblr.

The next day is the engagement dinner. Caleb’s watching Nathaniel, since the dinner starts at seven and the boy goes to bed by 7:30 most nights, which means there’s no excuse for Ben and Eliza not to go.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t try.

*

“If we don’t show up, they’ll assume we’re hiding from the story and that’s what the papers will talk about,” Eliza says as they’re getting dressed in their bedroom that evening.

“But we don’t care what the papers talk about,” Ben points out again, buttoning his shirt. He likes modern formal wear more than casual wear, if he’s quite honest- casual wear these days makes him feel like he’s in pajamas. Formal wear at least resembles what he’s used to. 

“We will when they start hounding us.” Eliza twists her hair up off her neck. She starts putting pins in it. “I for one don’t want to be yelled questions whenever I leave the house.”

“Fair enough. I still don’t see why it should matter to anyone else,” Ben says. Their bedroom door swings open and Nathaniel peers in. 

“Dress up?” he asks. Eliza laughs. 

“Yes, baby, we are dressing up.” Caleb appears over Nathaniel.

“Nat, I told you they were busy!” he says. 

“It’s fine, Caleb,” Ben says. “You can both come in, we’re dressed enough.” Nat scurries into the room, heading straight for Eliza at the vanity. He runs his hands over the silky material of her dress. 

“Pretty,” Nathaniel says. Caleb comes over to Ben and flicks his braid. 

“Shoddy work there, Tallboy. You try to do this without a mirror again?” Caleb says. Ben finishes buttoning his shirt and swats Caleb’s hand.

“Unless you’re offering to fix it, don’t play with it,” Ben says. 

“Of course I’ll fix it. Sit your ass down,” Caleb replies. 

“Language!” Eliza calls. Ben sits down on the bed and crosses his legs. Caleb starts unraveling the braid. 

“Nat, don’t repeat that,” Ben says.

“Yes, Daddy.” Nathaniel starts playing with the assorted jewelry on the vanity, standing on his toes to see. “Pretty. You gonna wear these, Mama?”

“Not all at once,” Eliza says. “Which ones do you think I should wear? Help me pick.” Nathaniel paws through the jewelry. Caleb’s hands start to pull Ben’s hair into a better braid. Caleb has always been better at doing Ben’s hair- even during the war Ben would have Caleb do his braid before meeting with superiors. 

“I thought T.J. was bugging you to cut this off,” Caleb says. 

“He is, and I’ve told him I won’t,” Ben says. “I like my hair.”

“I did tell him to stop that,” Eliza calls over her shoulder. “He’s admitted that you pull off long hair well.”

“What exactly is ‘nineties grunge’ anyway?” Ben asks. “T.J. said my hair reminds him of that.”

“Oh God, that boy’s an idiot sometimes,” Caleb grumbles. “Your hair is not nineties grunge. Those guys didn’t wash their hair and thought they were counter culture. You keep your hair cleaner than he does.”

“All right,” Ben says. 

“No, seriously, I lived through the nineties. You’re not like that,” Caleb says. 

“Hey, so did I. I actually dated one of those guys, and Ben is not like that,” Eliza says, putting on the necklace Nathaniel picked out. “And every woman I’ve spoken to loves Ben’s hair.” Ben does his best not to smirk. 

“Ben’s hair is great,” Caleb agrees. Nathaniel leaves Eliza’s side and climbs up onto the bed in front of Ben. 

“Where’s the party?” Nathaniel says.

“Grandma’s house,” Ben answers. Nathaniel makes a face. “I know.”

“Don’t encourage him, Ben. We still have to deal with them,” Eliza says. She stands up, bracing herself on the vanity to help offset her changed center of gravity. The dress drapes over her curves like a waterfall of fabric. Nathaniel’s chosen jewelry is gold and blue to match the muted gold of her dress. Ben’s suit is a dark blue. The two of them may have chosen the colors from his old uniform, which they both liked. Caleb liked it plenty too. 

“I can’t help it if your mother’s decided to hate me,” Ben says. 

“She doesn’t hate you,” Eliza says, coming to the bed. 

“Douglas says she does,” Ben says. Eliza ruffles Nathaniel’s hair. 

“Then she’s even dumber than I thought,” she says. “Don’t repeat that either, Nat.” Nathaniel nods. 

“Why does Grandma not like you?” he asks. Ben shrugs.

“Because your grandmother doesn’t like people who tell her no,” Caleb says, “and your dad has no problem saying no to people who are being ridiculous.”

*

The dinner is a truly boring affair. No one really wants to talk to Ben, other than to gush at how well he’s adjusting to the modern world. All they want to talk to Eliza about is the baby. They ask some terribly invasive questions about her health, which horrifies Ben, and they put their hands on her belly without asking. Eliza is not amused at either. She starts making shit up. 

“Well, it’s not a lizard,” she tells an older man who asks what they’re having. The man is stunned into silence and Ben hides a grin.

“Excuse me, gentlemen, I’m going to use the bathroom,” Eliza says before the man can respond. She heads off. The man looks to Ben, who is doing his best to keep a straight face, and walks away with a disgusted expression. Ben lets himself smile after that. 

“Hey there.” Ben turns around to see a man looking at him. The man is near his height, with light hair and dark eyes. He looks friendly enough, in his light gray suit and neutral tie, but there’s something about him that gives Ben pause.

“Hello,” Ben says. “Have we met?”

“Not yet. I’m Chris, I’m a friend of Doug’s,” the man says. “You’re Eliza’s husband, right?”

“Yes, I’m Ben,” Ben replies, shaking Chris’ hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. I’ve been hearing about you all summer,” Chris says. “Hell of a story, you and Eliza. Wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t know the family so well.” He gives a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Ben nods.

“It sounds more incredible than it was to live, I assure you,” he says. 

“Yeah, I imagine it’s not as fun to live,” Chris says, glancing away. “Still. You two came out of it pretty well. I thought Eliza would never get married.” Ben doesn’t really know what to make of that comment.

“I’m a very lucky man,” he says. Chris chuckles.

“Yes, yes, you are,” he says. “How’s your son? He’s doing well?” 

“Very well. He’s developed a fondness for dinosaurs lately,” Ben says, trying not to make a face. He’s not terribly fond of dinosaurs himself, which is Caleb’s fault, but he says nothing to Nathaniel about it. 

“Little boys do like monsters. How old is he now?” Chris asks. 

“Just turned three in the spring,” Ben says. “He’s a lovely boy. We’re very blessed.” Chris looks at him like he’s sprung a second head. Ben isn’t sure what he said wrong. 

“Excuse me.” A woman comes up to them, a gleam in her dark eyes. Ben nods to her.

“Good evening, ma’am,” he says. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

“Susan Berg. I work with the Washington Globe,” she says. Ah. Eliza warned him about this one. 

“Ben Tallmadge. I work at the Smithsonian,” Ben replies. Berg laughs. 

“I was wondering where you ended up working. How is life at the museum?” she says.

“I’m learning new old things every day,” Ben says. “Are you trying to get an interview, Miss Berg?”

“Tonight’s off the record, Mr. Tallmadge,” Berg says, looking as if she regretted having to say that. 

“I was wondering how you swung an invite to a Hammond party,” Chris says. “After everything you’ve written about the Secretary, I’m surprised she lets you get within twenty feet of her.” 

“Elaine Barrish is full of surprises, Senator,” Berg says. “And those pieces were a long time ago.”

“I suppose,” Chris says. 

“Have you ever written anything about Eliza?” Ben asks. He knows Eliza’s been written about most of her life, but he was warned not to use Google for that. After trying to Google George Washington and being met with the sight of his Commander in Chief sans clothing, Ben wouldn’t dare try any other famous friends of his.

“Mostly in relation to her parents. I did write about her miraculous return from three years of being missing,” Berg says. Of course she did, Ben thinks. Who didn’t? 

“We were just talking about that,” Chris says, firmly placing himself on Ben’s shit list. “Apparently, it sounds more interesting than it was.”

“That’s a very blasé approach to it,” Berg says, raising her brow. “Everyone’s been wondering about your perspective on things. An Amish man coming into the modern world, joining the equivalent of an American royal family-”

“That’s a bit of an oxymoron, don’t you think, Miss Berg?” Ben interrupts. He did not nearly die a thousand times over for America to have a royal family. 

“As close as we have to a royal family,” Berg amends. “What’s it like, being in that position?”

“Eliza and I are very lucky to have her family supporting us when we came to the area, especially while I was ill,” Ben says. 

“That’s kind of a non-answer, Mr. Tallmadge,” Berg says.

“You’re still a reporter, Miss Berg, even if things are off the record this evening,” Ben says. Berg smirks.

“Fair enough,” she says. “It would be interesting, though, if you and Eliza did do an interview, next February or March, something like ‘A Year Later’ piece on how you’ve adjusted to your new lives, how the kids are, something like that.”

“Well, I’d have to talk to Eliza about it, but I don’t think we’d do that,” Ben says. “We don’t want our children’s faces or their lives in the news. It’s not fair to do to a child.” 

“Nathaniel’s about to be in the news, or so I’ve heard,” Berg says, tone still friendly. Ben rolls his eyes. “You’ve heard too?”

“Yes, and it’s silly. I wish people would drop it,” Ben says. “I may not have sired Nathaniel, but he is my son in every way that matters. I love him and I care for him. What is it of anyone else’s business if I didn’t contribute D-N-A?” 

“Well, it is a bit of a scandal,” Chris says mildly. 

“Either she cheated on you while you were married, or she was sleeping around beforehand,” Berg elaborates. Ben sees red. It’s one thing for Abe to ask the question, out of concern as Ben’s friend, but it’s another entirely for Berg to suggest it.

“The way I see it, this story is only being bandied about to make Eliza look like a whore, and anyone who’s interested in that angle is a disgrace to the name of journalism,” Ben says in a tight voice. Berg blinks in surprise. “A woman can have sex with whoever she likes when she is not in a committed relationship, as often as she likes, whenever she likes. As long as it’s consensual, no one else should give a shite what’s going on.”

“That’s not- I wasn’t-” Berg is at a loss, stumbling over her words. Chris has a mildly amused expression on his face. 

“That’s what it sounds like you were implying, Miss Berg,” Ben replies. “And while you’re not the first to say this utter shite to me, I do hope you’re the last. I find myself quickly losing patience with people who attack my wife.”

“Oh, this sounds like a fun conversation.” Eliza’s voice cuts into Ben’s anger. She appears at his arm, taking his hand in hers. “Was it a new attack on me, Ben, or is it the same one as yesterday?”

“The same,” Ben says, cooling off. 

“Damn. I was hoping for a new one. Keep things fresh,” Eliza says. She fixes Berg with a look. “Good thing tonight’s off the record, isn’t it, Miss Berg?”

“Ye-yes, I suppose,” Berg says. “How are you feeling, Eliza?”

“Well, you know, glowing, maternal, kind of horny,” Eliza says with a shrug. Chris chokes on his tongue as Berg turns red. Eliza turns to Chris and there’s a flicker of displeasure in her face. “Oh, didn’t see you there, Senator. Come on, Ben, I think T.J.’s calling us.” She leads Ben away. His temper is still simmering- having her at his side is calming, but the nerve of Berg- the nerve of Elaine- the nerve of anyone who dares to think less of Eliza or Nathaniel because of the circumstances of his conception. 

“That’s right, Tallmadge,” Rogers whispers in his ear. Ben doesn’t even bother to look for him. “Get angry. Tell them all your wife’s no whore. They won’t believe the simple Amish boy. It’ll do you no good- they all think you’re an idiot.” Ben grits his teeth. 

“Don’t let them get to you, Ben,” Eliza says under her breath. “They’re shallow assholes who aren’t nearly as happy as we are.” She squeezes his hand. Ben unclenches his jaw and takes a deep breath. 

*

Dinner is slightly better. People are more polite, though there are some dirty looks Eliza’s way and some patronizing ones Ben’s way. Then Bud stands up.

“I just wanna say a few words to the two lovebirds,” he says. “Now, ever since Dougie was a little shit running around the Governor’s Mansion in North Carolina-” There’s a round of good-natured laughter at that. Even Ben gives a small smile. “-if I was going to pick one of my boys to end up the homosexual, it would have been this one.” Ben’s smile drops as Bud points to Douglas. He sees Eliza’s fingers tighten around her fork. “The boy was as gay as a spring dress! Clothes had to be perfect! Hair had to be perfect!” Ben’s chest gets tighter and tighter. Everyone else laughs. 

“Move it along, Dad,” Douglas says, smiling through pink-cheeked embarrassment. T.J. laughs particularly hard, cackling something about it being ‘awesome.’ 

“Typical Dougie, he went and found himself the perfect wife-to-be,” Bud continues, getting more serious. “Anne, you’re a treasure. Welcome to the family.” 

“Hear, hear,” Elaine says. Everyone lifts their glasses to Anne and Douglas. Ben’s smile is a bit forced and he swallows his wine quickly to hide his discomfort. Eliza is slower with her water, her motions measured like she’s handling something delicate.

“Couldn’t be more proud of you, son,” Bud says. Douglas is somewhat taken aback at that last part. He nods as Bud sits down. T.J.’s face immediately falls and Eliza’s lips thin. Ben wants to punch Bud in the face. How dare he make his children feel like this?

T.J. says something soft to Bud, who looks down the table to Elaine. Elaine glances at Douglas and Eliza, who both stand with her.

“Excuse us, we’re just gonna be a moment.” Ben looks to Eliza. She pats his shoulder.

“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few,” she says. The Hammonds head out. Ben turns back to the table. Anne catches his eye and makes a face at Elaine’s retreating back. Ben bites his lip to keep from laughing. It’s nice to know he’s not the only one tired of the drama. 

*

It’s not even five minutes later that Eliza comes back to the dining room. Ben only needs a glimpse of her face to know it’s time to go. 

“Excuse me.” Ben gets up, taking Eliza’s handbag off the back of her chair. He meets Eliza at the doorway and they head for the door. 

“What’d they say?” Ben mutters, putting his arm around her waist.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Eliza whispers back. Her voice is thick. It’s all the self-restraint Ben has to keep walking with her and not going back to hurt somebody.

*

They get back to their house and Eliza heads directly for the shower. She passes Caleb in the living room, who looks up to watch her pass. Then Caleb turns to Ben.

“Whoa,” Caleb says when she’s up the stairs. “What the hell happened?”

“She won’t say,” Ben says. “I imagine it had something to do with the D-N-A tests everyone’s talking about. All I know is that she went to talk to her parents and she came back like that.” He pulls off the tie he’s wearing. Caleb shuts his book.

“You need to change, because it doesn’t seem like Eliza’s in the mood to rip them off you with me, and they’re not comfortable,” he says. “When she’s out of the shower, we can talk.” Ben nods. “How was it for you?”

“I chewed out a reporter for calling Eliza a whore and I met a man who may or may not have been trying to bait me into giving him more information on how we got here,” Ben says. Caleb frowns. 

“Tell me more about the second one? People shouldn’t still be interested in that,” he says. Ben shrugs. 

“He just wanted me to talk about it. He didn’t seem to have a particular line of questioning,” he says. “I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back down in a minute.”

*

The boys manage to wheedle Eliza back downstairs to talk to them. She curls up between them on the couch, Caleb brushing out her hair while Ben rubs circles on the backs of her hands. 

“So what happened?” Caleb asks. Eliza sighs. Ben notes the red around her eyes and knows she cried in the shower.

“T.J. was pitching his nightclub idea to Mom and Dad, which went about as well as you’d expect,” Eliza says. “I tried to help by telling them how well he was doing with Nat and helping us with the baby, and Dad asked why they should trust me on anything. He and Mom started in on the whole DNA test thing again, and they said a lot of stupid shit about how I lied to everyone and now it looks bad for all of us, and they can never trust me again-”

“That’s horseshite and you know it,” Caleb interrupts.

“You didn’t lie, actually,” Ben says. “You never said Nat and I were biologically related, you just said he was my son, which is true.”

“Yeah, they just assumed things,” Caleb says. “And those medical records should never have been leaked to the public in the first place.”

“I know, I know, but it just hurt to hear them say things like that to me again,” Eliza says. Again? Ben repeats in his head. “I know I’m not being selfish by not telling everyone about Nat’s biological father, I know I’m making good decisions for him, I just have doubts when they talk to me like that.”

“What the hell would they know about good parenting?” Caleb says. “I was the one visiting T.J. in rehab and spending time with him when he got out. Why do you think he’s always here?”

“I thought it was because I’m so handsome,” Ben replies. Eliza smirks and Caleb nods. 

“Well, I’m not ruling that out,” Caleb agrees. 

“Honestly, the worst part is that I never would have gotten pregnant if Mom hadn’t shoved me at Chris Johnson in the first place,” Eliza says. “And then he was at the dinner, which was so fucking awkward.” 

“Wait, he was?” Ben says, hands pausing. Eliza nods.

“The guy you were talking to with Susan Berg. He’s a Senator now, which baffles me beyond belief,” she says. Ben and Caleb exchange a look over Eliza’s head. “What?”

“He was asking about us coming to D.C.,” Ben says. “I didn’t know who he was, or I would have said something earlier.”

“Did he ask about Nat?” Eliza says. 

“Only how he was doing. He doesn’t seem to know or care much for children,” Ben says, remembering the quizzical face Chris made at Ben’s calling Nat a blessing. 

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me,” Eliza says. “Chris has never shown an inkling of concern for anyone but himself- believe me, I’ve known him since I was seven.”

“Can’t have been all that good a fuck then,” Caleb says lightly.

“Not at all,” Eliza says, shaking her head. 

*

Ben can’t sleep. 

He tries for a while, lying next to his wife in the dark. He can hear Caleb’s soft snuffling on the other side of her as clearly as her regular breaths in and out. The small radio beside the bed blinks with Nat’s every sound. It’s the same as it is every night, but Ben cannot seem to fall asleep. He keeps thinking about the party, about Berg, about Bud and Elaine, and about Chris Johnson. 

It’s one thing to know Nathaniel had another father out there in theory. To see the man in person, to know he was out there walking around, holding the ability to take Nathaniel away at any time, is an altogether more terrifying thought. Ben had no way of knowing if Johnson wanted to do that, or if he did, when it would happen or what he could do to stop it. 

Finally, Nathaniel makes a sound that almost sounds like a problem, which gets the other two to stir. 

“I’ll get it,” Ben says quickly. He gets up and the other two settle back in bed. Ben heads over to Nathaniel’s room. He looks in through the door to see Nathaniel tossing and turning. 

“Hey.” Ben goes over to the small bed. He kneels down next to Nathaniel. “Hey, it’s all right, Nat. Daddy’s here.” Nathaniel rolls over and grabs onto Ben, eyes still shut. Ben sighs. “All right.” He lifts Nathaniel up into his arms and stands up.

Ben starts walking Nathaniel around the room, humming tunelessly. Nathaniel clutches Ben’s sleep shirt like it’s the rope pulling him out of deep water. Ben rubs Nathaniel’s back to try soothing him. That seems to do the trick. But when Ben tries to put him down, Nathaniel’s little fists clench on Ben’s shirt again. After several tries, Ben gives up on putting him down. 

Ben takes Nathaniel downstairs. Ben’s still humming, his limited musical ability keeping it from sounding like any song in particular. Ben walks Nathaniel through the house in hopes of lulling him into a sleep deep enough to go back to bed. 

Ben’s meandering through the kitchen when the house phone starts to ring. Ben stops rubbing Nathaniel’s back and picks up the phone. 

“Hello?” Ben says softly.

“Hey, Ben, it’s Anne.” Her voice is nearly as soft as his. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” 

“No, I was up,” Ben says. “Nat’s having a rough night.”

“I’m sorry. Is he sick?” Anne asks.

“Just a nightmare,” Ben says. “Is something the matter?”

“I just wanted to see if you guys were okay,” Anne says. “Douglas wouldn’t tell me what happened right before you left. It’s been bothering me.” Her voice is still soft, although it doesn’t sound as though Douglas is there with her. 

“Exactly what you’d expect. Elaine and Bud were nasty over the Nathaniel story and Eliza got upset,” Ben says. Anne sighs. “She’s better now.”

“They shouldn’t have said anything,” Anne snaps. “It’s none of their business. They don’t to get to interfere in your marriage, they don’t get to interfere with mine-” She cuts herself off. 

“I’m glad I’m not the only one done with their shite,” Ben replies. Anne scoffs.

“I’ve been done with their shit since day one. You have no idea how bad it gets,” she says. “They supposedly like me and they can’t leave well enough alone. I swear, I’m just a proxy for Elaine getting married to Douglas.”

“How Oedipal,” Ben says. Anne giggles. “I think you’re right. They didn’t particularly like me before, and I’m afraid I’ve made Elaine very angry with me.”

“Better you than me. You guys barely see her,” Anne says. “She calls Douglas at two in the morning to leave at four in the morning for New York.”

“If she didn’t demand us appearing at these public events, I’m not sure we’d see her at all,” Ben says. Nathaniel sniffs in his sleep and Ben hefts him higher. 

“Lucky you. You picked the Hammond that doesn’t stay with the others,” Anne says. “Does it bother you? The whole thing with Nathaniel?” Ben sighs.

“Which part?” he says. A familiar silhouette appears in the corner of his vision.

“The part where everyone knows you’re only pretending to be the boy’s father,” Rogers jeers. Ben rolls his eyes.

“I don’t know. I guess that everyone’s making such a big fuss over it,” Anne says. “I mean, Douglas was talking about how you’re not Nathaniel’s ‘real’ father- and I’m using air quotes there- and I was like, Bud is his ‘real’ father and he didn’t do half the shit for Douglas that you do for Nathaniel, so what’s the importance of DNA anyway?”

“You are the only person who seems to understand that,” Ben says, something unclenching in his chest. “Yes, the fuss bothers me. That no one seems to take me seriously as a parent bothers me. Nathaniel is my son. That’s really all there is to it.”

“You wish, Tallmadge,” Rogers says. “You wouldn’t be so worried if it were that simple.”

“Well, I don’t know if this is any comfort to you, but you’re Nathaniel’s real father as far as I’m concerned,” Anne says. 

“It is,” Ben says. Rogers scoffs and Ben does his best to ignore him. “Thank you, Anne, for calling. I appreciate your concern and your support.”

“Hey, we Hammond spouses have to stick together, right?” Anne says. “Imagine when T.J. gets a boyfriend. Then we can have commiseration powwows.” Ben lets himself chuckle. “I’ll let you get back to sleep. If things have calmed down by then, I’ll see you at the party this weekend?”

“Yes, we’re looking forward to it,” Ben answers. “Nathaniel hasn’t been to the zoo yet.”

“Just keep him away from the elephants and you’ll be fine,” Anne says. “Elaine likes the elephants.”


	3. Caleb One

Caleb wishes he were slightly more sympathetic about this whole illegitimacy scandal, but considering he’s Nat’s unofficial third parent, he’s sort of ambivalent about the fuss. He is firm on the fact that Ben is Nat’s father, absolutely. Chris Johnson has nothing on Ben ‘carries the baby while giving orders to his men’ Tallmadge. But Caleb has other things to be worried about.

*

“This is the fourth time this month, Diomara,” Caleb grumbles, shoveling the remains of the latest demon off Diomara’s kitchen floor. 

“It’s hardly my fault,” Diomara replies. She holds out a garbage bag made with recycled magical ingredients. Caleb dumps the demon gunk in there. “It’s not like I put a sign on my front porch saying ‘Semi-powerful Witch, Please Attack Me.’”

“I know, but-” Caleb grunts as he pushes the shovel into a particularly stubborn pile of gunk. “-between coming here to help you with these and the ridiculous amount of demon infestations lately, I barely have time to shower. Which I have to do or I get sent to the couch.”

“I’ve been asking around about that,” Diomara says. “Apparently it’s only happening in the Delmarva area. Everywhere else is business as usual.”

“So we’re just lucky?” Caleb pries the stubborn pile off the floor. He brings it over to the bag as it tries to clamp onto the shovel.

“I think that there’s something here it wants,” Diomara says. “I’m still working on what. It’d be easier if we had some help-” 

“Nick Fury isn’t interested in fighting demons,” Caleb interrupts. “And quite frankly, I’m not interested in his help.” He can’t help the bitter edge to his voice and Diomara lifts her perfectly shaped brow at him as he shakes the demon gunk off in her bag.

“He gave you that funny archer guy,” she says, the hint of a question in her voice.

“No, Phil gave me that funny archer guy,” Caleb corrects, sticking his shovel in the last bit of demon. He leans on the shovel. “Fury is a fuckwad. And you can quote me on that.”

“All right, if you say so,” Diomara says. “I’ll see if I can get some more hunters in the area. Good ones.”

“Not those brothers who keep almost ending the world,” Caleb says. “Those guys are more trouble than they’re worth. Also the older one never called me like he said he would. Flaky little shite.”

*

Caleb and Diomara manage to get everything cleaned up by noon. That’s when Caleb gets a call from T.J.

“Hey, man, can you come get me?” T.J. says, voice wobbly.

“Of course,” Caleb says. “Where are you? What’s going on?”

“They, um, somebody, uh, wrote…about me,” T.J. says. “About what I did…last December. I need to- I need to-”

“I’m coming for you,” Caleb says. “Just send me the address. I’ll be there as soon as humanly possible.” 

*

Caleb gets T.J. from a rather shitty little apartment complex and brings him directly to the house. Eliza and Nat are in the living room, where Nat’s got his dinosaurs and his dollhouse. Eliza is worrying her cuticles.

“T.J.!” She gets up when she sees him. T.J. goes right over and lets her wrap her arms around him. “I saw the blog post. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” T.J. mutters. “Can we just, like, not talk about it?” 

“Of course,” Eliza says. She lets him go and Nat comes over to pull on T.J.’s pant leg.

“Uncle T.J., come play,” he demands. T.J. plasters on a smile. 

“Of course, buddy.” T.J. gets down on the floor with Nat. Caleb goes to Eliza. 

“Where did you find him?” Eliza asks in a low voice. 

“He called me from his latest hookup,” Caleb says in the same tone. “He’s coming off a high.”

“Thank God Ben’s not home,” Eliza says. “He wouldn’t know what to do with that.”

“Eliza, this is T.J. Ben wouldn’t even notice the difference,” Caleb says. Eliza shrugs in agreement. “Besides, Ben wouldn’t know what a high looked like. Cocaine wasn’t exactly the drug of choice in the 1780s.”

“Yeah, but the deal was we wouldn’t have T.J. around Nat while he was high,” Eliza replies. 

“This is an emergency,” Caleb says. “It’s not like we’re leaving them alone together.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Eliza says. 

*

Eliza fends off panicked phone calls from Douglas about T.J. Caleb stays with the boys, keeping an eye on both. Nat spends a lot of time in T.J.’s lap, with T.J.’s face in his hair. Nat doesn’t seem to mind.

Ben comes home while Eliza’s trying to calm down her grandmother over the phone. Caleb hears him greet Eliza before coming into the living room. Ben looks at Caleb on the couch and Nat on the floor. 

“Where’d T.J. go?” Ben asks, going over to Caleb. 

“Bathroom,” Caleb says. Ben bends down to kiss Caleb on the forehead. Caleb does his best to not to grin like a moron. “He’s been here all afternoon. I think we’re going to keep him for dinner.”

“Ah. Good,” Ben says. Nat comes over and starts walking one of his dinosaur toys up Ben’s leg.

“Daddy, you’re the mountain. Hammy’s climbing you,” Nat says. Ben looks down and does his best not to make a face, but his shoulders tighten.

“Of course, Nat,” Ben says. Caleb chuckles and Ben glares at him. 

“Hey, Ben.” T.J. reappears, looking mildly shameful. Ben’s shoulders relax. 

“Nat, I need a moment,” he says, gently nudging Nat’s dinosaur away from him. Nat nods and lands the dinosaur on Caleb’s knee. Ben approaches T.J.

“T.J. I’m glad you’re here,” he says. “I saw the news, and I was worried.” T.J. shrugs.

“It’s whatever. I’m used to my life being on TV,” he says. 

“Well, I’m very grateful you’re still around,” Ben says. “I don’t know how to imagine our family without you.” T.J. stares at Ben for a moment. Then he throws himself into Ben’s arms, letting out a loud sob. Ben, stunned, holds T.J. close.

“What’s going on?” Eliza comes back into the room. She sees T.J. crying on Ben’s shoulder and turns to Caleb. “What the hell?”

“Ben made him cry, not me,” Caleb says. 

“You guys- just care- about me and- you treat me- like-like an adult- and-and nobody else does- I just-just love you guys- so much!” T.J. wraps his arms around Ben like the taller man is a life preserver. Ben pats his back.

“We love you too, T.J.,” he says. Caleb and Eliza exchange a look. Of course it would be Ben who got to T.J.; Ben cut right to the heart of the matter and said exactly what T.J. needed to hear.

*

They end up getting pizza, mostly because they’re all too emotionally exhausted for anything that requires effort. Nat picks one of his Disney movies for them all to watch and they sit in the living room with their pizza. 

T.J. curls up between Caleb and Eliza on the couch while Ben has Nat in his lap on the floor. Caleb badgers T.J. into eating more than half a slice. Eliza wipes her hands on napkins to rub T.J.’s arm without getting grease on him. T.J. doesn’t have the same mindfulness when he clutches Caleb’s shirt at the sad scenes or when he goes to feel the baby move. Neither Caleb nor Eliza point it out.

Gaston is riling up the townsfolk when Caleb’s phone starts buzzing. He pushes T.J. toward Eliza and gets up to go answer his phone.

“Yeah?” Caleb says when he’s in the kitchen.

“Brewster,” Phil says by way of greeting. “How do you feel about Bud Hammond?”

“He’s a piece of shit who should be slapped every morning as his wake up call,” Caleb answers, doing his best to keep his voice low. “Why?”

“We want you to go with him to Oman tomorrow,” Phil says. 

“No,” Caleb says.

“He needs personal protection from unusual threats-”

“Fuck no. He can get eaten by demons for all I care,” Caleb says. “Do you have any idea the shit he puts his children through? The man deserves to be eaten.”

“He’s negotiating the release of the captured journalists in Iran,” Phil says patiently. Caleb sighs.

“Ugh. Fine. But I can’t promise I won’t smack him on the way back.”

“Duly noted,” Phil says. 

*

Eliza and Ben are about as happy about Caleb’s new assignment as he is.

T.J. crashed in the spare room. Caleb had kept the phone call’s subject quiet until after T.J. and Nat went to bed, but Eliza and Ben got the story out of him about five minutes after.

“I do not envy you in the slightest,” Ben says as they watch Caleb pack an overnight bag. “Do you think you could get away with punching him in the name of his safety?”

“Try not to kill him,” Eliza advises. She and Ben are sitting at the head of the bed while Caleb’s bag sits at the foot. Caleb walks back over with clean underwear. “We don’t have the finances to bail you out of jail for murdering the former President.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Caleb says. “To either.” 

“I suppose they’ll be postponing the engagement party,” Ben muses, wrapping one of Eliza’s curls around his finger. 

“Yeah, Douglas texted to say it was moved to Mom’s house when Dad and Caleb get back,” Eliza says. “I’m sure Anne is thrilled.”

“I think she’s happy it’s not as many people now,” Ben says. “She didn’t want any of the zoo stuff anyway.”

“No, that was all Elaine,” Caleb says. “Anne’s got the patience of a saint for dealing with all that.” He shoves the underwear in the bag and pushes it to the floor. He climbs onto the bed. Eliza starts to giggle and squirm as Caleb makes his way up to the head of the bed. “Oh, no, you don’t. There’s no escaping me tonight, Liza Love.”

“I still have beard burn on my thighs!” Eliza says. Caleb takes her by the leg and pulls her down towards him.

“Then the beard won’t be near your thighs. It’ll be on Tallboy’s,” he promises.

“That sounds intriguing,” Ben says, watching with a smirk. “Eliza?”

“As long as you don’t make the beard burn worse, I’m down for anything,” Eliza says. She reaches up and palms the back of Caleb’s neck. “Give us something to reminisce about while you’re gone?”

“As you wish,” Caleb answers.


	4. Caleb Two

Caleb gets on the plane the next morning happily sore. Bud and Elaine are already there, talking.

“If that Guinea son of a bitch gave me the tools, I could have Hakaam in the UN next week, pissing fuel rods,” Bud is saying.

“Sounds painful,” Caleb remarks as Elaine sighs. Both politicians look up at him.

“Well, if it ain’t my favorite SHIELD agent,” Bud says “How’s life been treating you?” 

“It keeps me busy, sir. How are you?” Caleb says as politely as he can manage. 

“Agent Brewster, thank you for coming,” Elaine says before Bud can answer. “You’ve been fully briefed, I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m all set over here,” Caleb says. He doesn’t want to talk to Elaine for long, because he might start saying things he regrets later. Elaine nods.

“If he gets bruised, I don’t blame you,” she says. People start filing onto the plane behind Caleb. Bud looks perturbed. 

“What’s the bitch of the beltway doing here?” he says. Caleb glances back to see Susan Berg going to find a seat. 

“Finishing her feature on me,” Elaine says. She starts packing her things. “I told her she could cover this story as background.”

“She won a Pulitzer for hating our guts!” Bud protests.

“It turns out she doesn’t hate us. Just you,” Elaine says sweetly. Caleb takes that as his cue to go find a seat. He goes over to the cabin and takes the seat closest to the door. The security guys see him and nod. He nods back. Caleb likes those guys.

*

Bud leaves Caleb be for a while, instead inviting Susan Berg to play digital Scrabble with him for a few hours. Caleb takes the time to read a book on introducing older kids to their new siblings (he stole it from Ben’s bedside table, but Ben stole it from Eliza in the first place).

He’s midway through the book when Susan Berg leaves the cabin. The attendant taps Caleb on the shoulder and Caleb looks up from his book.

“President Hammond has requested you in his cabin,” the attendant says. Caleb shuts his book. 

“All right. Be right there.” He shoves the book into his bag. Caleb stands up and follows the attendant into the cabin.   
Bud sits at a small table with a file folder. He looks up at Caleb over the tops of his glasses. 

“Hey there, Brewster. How’s it going?” Bud asks. Caleb shrugs.

“I think my ass is asleep, but other than that, I’m doing well,” he says. Bud smirks. “How about you, sir?”

“I just won a hundred bucks off Susan Berg, so I’m feeling pretty good,” Bud says. “Have a seat. Join me.”

“I’m not playing you at anything, sir, I’m sure you’ll shark me,” Caleb says. 

“I’m not asking you to play with me, son, I’m asking you to sit down.” Caleb goes over to the table, as much as he doesn’t want to, and sits across from the guy who called his girl a whore. Bud takes off his glasses.

“You know, when they told me to be worried about strange threats, I requested you specifically,” he says. “I remembered how dedicated you were to my Eliza’s case. I thought, there’s no man I’d want at my side more than that one.” Caleb smiles quickly.

“Thank you, sir.”

“They’ve had to switch our destinations,” Bud says. “That little shit Fred Collier told the Press where we were going, so now we’re headed for Turkey instead of Oman.”

“Asshole,” Caleb says. Bud chuckles.

“That he is, Brewster, that he is,” he says. “He’s a useful little shit sometimes, but he’s a shit nonetheless.”

“I find that true of a lot of people,” Caleb says. Especially you, he thinks, but he doesn’t say. Bud nods.

“It’s even more apparent when you’re President, trust me.” Bud leans back in his chair. “You still talk to Eliza and her husband, don’t you?” There it is. There’s the reason Caleb’s on this plane.

“Yeah, I do,” Caleb says. 

“And how are they doing? I don’t see much of her these days,” Bud says.

“Well, that might be because you called her a lying slut,” Caleb answers in a light tone. Bud blinks.

“I beg your pardon, Agent?”

“She told me what you said at Douglas’ dinner, behind closed doors,” Caleb says. “You know, sir, when I heard you said that, I thought, there’s a guy who doesn’t appreciate the second chance he’s been given with his kid.”

“Now, hang on, Agent Brewster, you don’t have the whole story,” Bud says. “Eliza lied to us about her son’s daddy.”

“Her husband, Ben, is Nathaniel’s daddy in every way that’s important,” Caleb says. “But that’s not the point. The point is that Eliza’s your kid. She is your only daughter and you lost her for three years. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that she came back? That she didn’t end up dead in a ditch somewhere?”

“I’m very glad she’s alive, yes, but she was sleeping around-”

“I don’t think you’ve got the moral high ground on this one, sir,” Caleb says. Bud’s brow furrows.

“I don’t think you get to talk to me that way,” he says in a low, dangerous voice.

“Show me the law that says I can’t call you out on your shite, sir,” Caleb answers. “If you’re going to make such a stink over fatherhood, you should probably fucking act like one.”

“And how would you know what a father acts like, Agent? You got any kids at home?” Bud replies. 

“I’ve got a godson,” Caleb says.

“Then you don’t know shit about what it means to be a father,” Bud replies. “That Ben kid might be a good stand in, but he’s not the boy’s father.” Caleb grips the sides of his chair to keep his hands from closing around Bud’s neck.

“There’s a lot more to being a father than providing DNA, I can tell you that much,” he says. “I think I should go sit outside, so that I’m more likely to protect you when we land.” Caleb stands up.

“Why the hell does my family business matter so much to you anyway?” Bud demands. Caleb doesn’t answer; he leaves the cabin and goes back to his seat outside.

“You don’t want to go to jail,” Caleb mutters to himself. “You can’t kill him: you will go to jail if you kill him.”

*

Berg follows Bud out of the plane. Caleb is behind them. 

His CSE meter starts whirring in his pocket when they approach Hakaam. Caleb, standing back slightly, checks it to see that the CSE is not close enough to hurt himself or Bud. It is, however, perfectly situated to hurt Hakaam, who looks like death warmed over. Shite. 

Caleb is no political relations expert. He doesn’t know how it would be taken if he just threw a safety charm at Hakaam, but he’s guessing it wouldn’t be taken kindly. Instead, he grabs Bud by the shoulder when the former President pretends to be consulting with Berg.

“Get your hands off me, boy,” Bud says, fake smile still plastered on his face.

“You need to give this to Hakaam,” Caleb says. He pushes an Anti-Demon Buddy at Bud, a small doll carved from enchanted wood. It’d get whatever was eating at Hakaam away for at least a little while.

“Why the hell should I do that?” Bud replies. 

“It’ll save his life, or at least prolong it,” Caleb says. Bud’s anger fades a little.

“It’s a doll,” Berg repeats. “It’s made of wood.”

“So’s your paper. Take it, Mr. President.” Caleb says. Bud takes the ADB.

“Fine. Now scoot on back where you were, you nosy little shit,” he says. Caleb nods. 

“Thank you, sir.” Caleb backs off. Bud does a bit more of the dance with Berg before dealing with Hakaam. 

“And,” Bud says when it’s over. “As a token of our friendship, I’ve got this for you.” He holds the ADB out to Hakaam. Hakaam reaches with a frail hand. When he takes the ADB, new color rushes into his cheeks and Caleb lets out a breath he doesn’t know he was holding.

“Thank you,” Hakaam says. 

“Thank you,” Bud says. He turns around. He catches Caleb’s eye and nods. At least the shithead is grateful for Caleb’s interventions in this kind of thing.

*

The plane ride back is even longer than the ride there. It might be because Bud Hammond is crowing about his success and cajoling a woman younger than Eliza back to his cabin. It might be because Caleb finished his book. It might be because he knows Eliza has a doctor’s appointment today and he was supposed to be watching Nat, but now someone else will have to. 

Finally, the plane lands and Caleb can get away from Bud Hammond for a little while. Only for a little while, because Douglas invited him to the big engagement party. So Caleb runs home, where Eliza, Ben, and Nathaniel are already getting dressed.

*

“There you are!” Ben says when Caleb hurries into the bedroom. Ben’s got Nat on the bed, where the little bug is trying to squirm out from the tiny formal wear Ben’s buttoning him into.

“Yeah, sorry. Had to save some journalists and the President of Iran, you know,” Caleb says. He tosses his bag onto the floor and heads for the closet. “Stop struggling, Nat, we all have to be fancy tonight.”

“I don’t like it!” Nat protests. “Can’t I be like Mama?”

“Not tonight, Nat, Grandma would have a fit,” Ben says. “You get to be like me and Uncle Caleb tonight instead.” Caleb starts stripping his work clothes off. 

“You’ll look very nice,” Eliza says, coming out of the bathroom. “And you can wear one of my necklaces if you stop giving Daddy such a hard time.” The rustling behind Caleb stops and Ben laughs. Caleb smirks as he pulls on the suit he hardly ever wears.

“So that’s what it takes. Bribery,” Ben says. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you didn’t come from political stock.” 

“Or criminal stock,” Caleb adds from the closet. 

“Caleb, I know you’ve only got the suit half on, but I kinda want to tear it off you already,” Eliza replies. Caleb laughs.

“Some other time, Liza Love.”

*

The Tallmadges leave without Caleb, since they can’t all appear together anyway. Caleb arrives about ten minutes later. He’s greeted by Anne and Douglas, who thank him for everything again. He grins and bears it, knowing he didn’t actually do much with the ‘rescue’ of Eliza. 

Caleb makes his way through the Hammond house, noting all the fancy people. Caleb’s suit fits well, yeah, and it’s not shabby, but he still feels out of place. 

“Hey, Brewster.” Phil appears in the living room. Caleb blinks.

“Phil, old buddy! What are you doing here?” he asks, grabbing Phil’s arm. Phil gives his close-lipped smile.

“I’m a friend of the Secretary’s through work. I sometimes help her with intelligence briefings,” he says. “She’s a valued friend of SHIELD’s.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Caleb says. 

“Because you’re a paranoid little shit,” Phil replies. Caleb gapes.

“Phil, did you just make a joke? Is the world ending?”

“Hey, I’m off the clock,” Phil says. Caleb shakes his head.

“I have got to hang out with you off the clock more often,” he says. “This explains so much about you and Barton, honestly.”

“Wait til you meet his partner,” Phil says. “That’s even more explanatory.” Caleb laughs, imagining how much more of Barton’s utter recklessness can be explained. 

“Uncle Caleb!” Nat comes running out of the dining room towards Caleb. Eliza’s necklace, this one made of black-and-white faux pearls, claps against the dark blue of Nat’s shirt as he hurries over. Caleb grins. He bends down to catch Nat.

“There’s my handsome bug! Come here, you.” Nat lands in Caleb’s arms and Caleb lifts him up. “Here you go. You enjoying yourself, Nat?” Nat nods. 

“Lotsa pretty people,” he says. “Pretty dresses. Pretty shirts.”

“It is very pretty here,” Caleb agrees. “Nat, this is my friend Phil. Phil Coulson, Nathaniel Tallmadge.”

“Nice to meet you,” Phil says, holding out a hand. Nat shakes it with his little one, face entirely serious. 

“Nice to meechu, Mr. Phil,” he says. Phil nods. 

“You have a very good handshake, Mr. Nat. Did your uncle teach you that?” he asks. 

“Not a chance,” Caleb says. “That was all his daddy’s doing, right?”

“Yup-yup,” Nathaniel says. 

“That makes more sense,” Phil says, tone dry enough to be a desert.

“Watch it, Phil,” Caleb says.

“Yeah, watch it, Mr. Phil,” Nat echoes, voice far too excited to be threatening. Phil bites his lip, eyes betraying his desire to laugh.

“All right, enough chatting. Where are your parents, Nat? God knows we can’t leave them alone with this crowd,” Caleb says. Nat points in the direction from whence he came. 

“That way!”

“That way it is. See you at work, Phil.” Phil nods, still holding back his laughter. Caleb follows Nat’s directions to the dining room. He spots his lovers and the sight takes his breath away.

Ben is as tall and handsome as ever, his dark blue suit standing out in the sea of black and gray ones. The deep violet shirt underneath matches Eliza’s dress. She leans against his arm, her dark hair obscuring it almost entirely from view. Caleb’s view has the light catching their profiles. Their polite smiles are lined by the soft glow, the jewels at Eliza’s neck glinting and reflecting on the smooth skin of her neck. She has one hand on her belly and the other on Ben’s shoulder. Ben glances down at her, the blue of his eyes lit with delight and admiration. He looks up to see Caleb and Nat. He smiles wider and lifts his chin to invite them over. Eliza turns her head and sees them as well. 

“There you are!” she says. Her conversation partners look over. Caleb brings Nat to the small squad of people.

“Did someone order a small child?” Caleb says, getting a few laughs. Eliza leans over and kisses his cheek.

“This is our good friend, Agent Caleb Brewster,” she says to the other people. “He’s the one who took care of us when we arrived.” Caleb nods as Eliza introduces the other people. He likes this; he’s got Nat in his arms, Eliza’s hand on his arm, and Ben smiling at him on the other side of Eliza. It’s the whole little family right there.

*

Not an hour later, they’ve migrated to the living room. Eliza is sitting on the couch with Anne while Ben and Caleb stand behind them. T.J. has Nat, the two on the piano bench with its lid firmly shut.

Anne sits up suddenly when they’re talking about Ben’s job. She looks past Eliza and starts to smile. 

“What’s that about?” Eliza says. She starts to turn around and Anne grabs her shoulder.

“No, don’t look,” Anne says. “Just wait.” Eliza’s brow goes up.

“What have you done?” she says. Ben hides a smirk behind his hand and Caleb gives him a suspicious look.

“What’s going on, Tallboy?” Caleb asks. Ben glances down the hallway. 

“Anne and Douglas have arranged a bit of a surprise for Eliza,” he says. 

“Oh, God, you got Ben involved?” Eliza says. “What is it?” 

“Just wait,” Anne says again. “You’ll love it, I promise.” Caleb follows Ben’s gaze to the hallway. Douglas is leading a tall redhead into the room. She looks vaguely familiar; Caleb feels like he’s seen her on the covers of the magazines lining grocery store checkouts. She comes up behind Eliza and places lithe hands on Eliza’s tense shoulders. Instantly, Eliza’s anxiety melts.

“Hello, darling,” the woman says in an RP accent. Eliza’s face lights up.

“Freddie!” Eliza starts getting up as quickly as she can. Ben and Caleb move to help her, but Freddie is already there, touching Eliza like she’s known that skin for years. Caleb’s hackles go up. Ben puts a hand on Caleb’s.

“My goodness, Eliza, look at you!” Freddie says, joy in her face. “Gorgeous as ever!” The two women embrace as tightly as Eliza’s belly will allow. Freddie kisses both of Eliza’s cheeks. Caleb glances to see Ben smiling as the women step back, still holding onto each other.

“Look at you! You’re all grown up and elegant!” Eliza says, laughing. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the city and Douglas reached out. He invited me to come see you and meet your new family,” Freddie says. “I wanted to come earlier, but I couldn’t get in touch with anyone who would tell me how to get in touch with you.”

“You know which assholes are responsible for that,” Eliza says. Freddie nods, eyes widened in annoyance. Caleb has a feeling he also knows which assholes are responsible. In fact, he can see one in the dining room, watching the meeting with narrowed eyes. 

“Now, which one is your husband?” Freddie says, looking at Caleb and Ben. Caleb nudges Ben. 

“That’s me.” Ben comes around the couch. He holds out a hand to Freddie, who finally lets go of Eliza. “Ben Tallmadge.” He raises Freddie’s hand to his lips. Freddie casts an amused glance to Eliza.

“Fredericka Windsor,” Freddie says. “Of Cambridge.” Holy shit. Caleb knows who Freddie is now. She’s the fucking Princess of all England! Eliza sure knows how to pick ‘em!

“You can call me Freddie. It’s very nice to meet you,” Freddie says. 

“And you,” Ben says, releasing her hand. “Eliza’s told me a bit about you.” Caleb hasn’t heard anything about Freddie. He damn well should have. 

“All bad, I’m sure,” Freddie says.

“Only some,” Eliza says. She reaches over and grabs Caleb by the arm. “This is our good friend Caleb Brewster. He’s been taking care of us since we got back and we love him.” Caleb comes around the couch, trying not to blush. His annoyance is vanished at the thought that Eliza is insisting on introducing him to someone so important to her as someone important to her. Freddie picks up on that. 

“Very nice to meet you, Caleb,” she says warmly, holding out her hand. Caleb shakes it. 

“Nice to meet you, Your Highness,” Caleb says. “Anyone who can piss off Bud Hammond that much is a friend of mine.” Freddie laughs.

“Oh, you’re a fun one,” she says. 

“I try, Your Highness,” Caleb answers. 

“Please, call me Freddie,” Freddie says. “I’m a friend here, not a royal. And this must be the delightful Anne I spoke to on the phone!” Freddie crosses to Anne. Ben crosses to Eliza and Caleb. He catches Bud’s glare from across the room and chuckles.

“I think your father hates Freddie nearly as much as he hates me,” Ben says. 

“More,” Eliza says. “Definitely hates her more.” T.J. comes over with Nat in his arms. Nat is watching Freddie carefully. Ben reaches out and takes Nat. 

“Hey, my big man. Did you have fun with Uncle T.J.?” he says. “Are you going to play piano?” 

“Oh, I am not the Hammond brother to emulate,” T.J. says with a laugh. “Right, Dougie?”

“Eh, you have some traits he’d be all right with,” Douglas says. Freddie turns away from Anne to see Nat.

“This must be Nathaniel!” she says. “God, Eliza, he looks just like you. He’s beautiful.”

“He is beautiful,” Eliza says. “Nat, this is Mama’s friend Freddie. Freddie, this is our son, Nat.”

“She’s a real live Princess, Nat,” T.J. adds. Nat’s eyes widen. 

“Hi,” he says in a soft voice. 

“Hello, Nat. It’s so nice to meet you,” Freddie replies. Nat goes red and Freddie holds back a smile. 

“Nice to meechu,” Nat mutters. 

“Nat, are you all right?” Ben says, looking concerned. “He’s not usually like this.”

“The first time meeting a Princess is the roughest,” Anne suggests from behind Freddie. They start to laugh and Nat buries his face in Ben’s shirt.

“Oh, poor baby,” Eliza says, though she smiles. “Everyone is nervous when they meet Princess Freddie for the first time.”

“I do have that effect on people,” Freddie agrees. “Though usually grown people…”

*

Nat is asleep before they even get home. Ben carries him up to bed while Caleb and Eliza head for their own bedroom. They help each other get undressed. Caleb’s still pulling the pins out of Eliza’s hair when Ben comes in.

“Seems like he’s going to stay down,” he reports. 

“I’d hope so. It’s long past his bedtime,” Eliza says. “Come here, let me undo your tie.” Ben does as he’s told.

“That wasn’t awful, as encounters with your family go,” he says as Eliza reaches up to his tie. 

“It was downright pleasant,” Caleb adds.

“I’m as shocked as you are,” Eliza says. “Then again, we didn’t have to talk to Mom or Dad much.” She pulls Ben’s tie off. “What did you guys think of Freddie?” 

“She was very sweet,” Ben says. “I can see why you were interested in her.”

“Yeah, I like her,” Caleb says. “It was nice of Douglas and Anne to bring her in. Your mom must have hated that.” Eliza laughs, unbuttoning Ben’s shirt.

“Oh my God. I wish I could have seen her face,” she says. “Did either of you?”

“I did,” Ben says, smiling. “It was amazing. She looked like someone had slapped her with a mackerel or something.” Eliza cackles. Caleb takes the last pin out of her hair and pushes her to the bed.

“Put your feet up, you rebellious bisexual you,” Caleb says. “As for you, Tallboy-” He grabs Ben by the shirt and pulls him closer. “I’m going to finish undressing you.” 

“Please do,” Ben replies. Eliza snickers as Caleb pulls Ben’s shirt off his shoulders. 

“You know what’s really funny,” Caleb says. Ben quirks up an eyebrow. “Eliza started out by fucking a Princess and now she’s fucking a pair of Rebels.”

“Oh my God!” Eliza falls over laughing. Ben starts chuckling and the mood is completely killed. Caleb doesn’t really mind.


	5. Eliza One

The morning after the engagement party, the baby decides to wake Eliza up with elbows in places elbows are not supposed to be. One well-placed jab actually gets Ben to grumble in his sleep. Eliza tries rubbing her belly to see if that’ll quiet her daughter. It might be working, but then Eliza’s phone goes off.  
Eliza mutters a curse. She rolls over, which is no longer an easy task, and picks up her phone.

“What, Douglas?” Eliza says. 

“I need to talk to you,” Douglas answers. 

“It’s five in the morning. I have less than sixty minutes before Nat wakes up and I have to get up,” Eliza says. “What’s going on?”

“It’s important,” Douglas says. “Can I come over after Ben leaves for work? I’ll bring you and Nat pastries.”

“Make it cinnamon rolls and you have a deal,” Eliza says. “Two hours.” 

*

After helping get Nat up and moving, Ben and Caleb go to work. Eliza is kinda jealous that they aren’t stuck in the house all the time. She loves her son, she loves spending time with him, but she gets so bored. There’s only so much pretending that robots are serving pasta to chunky little dolls she can take. Also, kids’ shows have the worst songs. They get stuck in Eliza’s head and blend together. 

Douglas shows up shortly after the boys leave. Eliza sets Nat up with some crayons and some paper at the kitchen table. 

“So what’s going on?” Eliza says while Douglas puts the box of cinnamon rolls on the other end of the table. He sighs. 

“You can’t tell anyone I told you,” Douglas says. “I’m serious, Mom will kill me.”

“What, is she running for President again?” Eliza says. “That’s not exactly news.”

“She’s going to do it in two years,” Douglas says, face grave. Eliza shrugs.

“Yeah, I assumed that’s why she sent Dad to Oman,” she says. “I know how she works, Douglas.”

“Well, you figured it out before me,” Douglas says, exasperated. “But what you don’t know is how bad things got during the last campaign. You didn’t see how close we came to imploding as a family. I swear to God, we will not survive another campaign.”

“Okay,” Eliza says, perturbed. “What do you want me to do? I can’t talk Mom into anything right now. Between Freddie and the DNA tests-”

“You could tank her chances before she can get started,” Douglas interrupts. “If you were to make a public statement about Nat’s real father-”

“Ben is Nat’s real father, biology be damned,” Eliza says quickly. “Are you suggesting I name the biological contributor? Because I will not use either of my children as political tools.”

“Eliza, we need to stop this,” Douglas says. “T.J.’s already spiraling again, and it hasn’t even started. Nat won’t even know what’s going on-”

“Ben and I will,” Eliza says, crossing her arms. “Ben’s having a hard enough time with everyone and their mother dismissing him as Nat’s parent. Can you imagine how much worse it’ll be if I give them another man to replace him with?” Douglas winces. “Exactly.”

“Okay, but it could get a lot worse,” Douglas says. “Like, a lot worse.”

“What, someone else could name him?” Eliza says. “Only four people know who he is: me, him, Ben, and Caleb. None of us want the information out there, so it’s not getting out there. I’m not even sure he knows.”

“Why does Caleb know?” Douglas asks, brow furrowing in confusion. “I don’t even know. Why would you tell him?”

“He wanted to rule it out for the investigation of my disappearance,” Eliza says. She really has to be more careful about Caleb. It’s so easy to casually mention him like she does Ben. Maybe she should drop that bombshell for Douglas. 

“Okay, so a random stranger knows your son’s biological father but not your brother,” Douglas says, getting offended. Eliza rolls her eyes.

“Investigator into my disappearance. And if I didn’t think you’d leak it to tank Mom’s campaign, I’d tell you,” she says. “What are you doing to stop her? I assume you’ve got a plan.”

“Well, sort of. I’m working on it,” Douglas says. “We can’t tell T.J. He’s…a mess right now.”

“I’ve noticed,” Eliza says. “He ends up here a lot. Not that I’m upset about that, but I get to see his problems firsthand.”

“I can tell him to stop bothering you guys,” Douglas says. “He’s not a problem with Nat, is he?”

“He’s great with Nat. And I don’t want him to stop coming here, he’ll go somewhere and get high,” Eliza says. “It’s fine. Leave T.J. be. And don’t use my kid as political leverage or I’ll shoot you.”

“You don’t know how to use a gun,” Douglas says dismissively. Eliza raises an eyebrow and he frowns.

“You’d best not try to find out,” Eliza replies. “Thank you for the cinnamon rolls. Leave my kid alone.” Douglas, a little chilled, holds up his hands.

“You’re welcome. I will. Let me know if you think of anything else to stop Mom.”

*

One of the other problems of being alone with Nathaniel during the day is going out. Eliza has to do it less as she gets further into the pregnancy, but she still tries to do it once a week or so. That has its difficulties, even when Nat is well-behaved and does what she asks, yet they manage.

*

Today brought a new challenge.

“Eliza! Eliza!” A group of voices calls from the fence of the playground. Eliza had brought Nat to the park near their house, hoping to let him run around in the fresh air. He still runs free as the reporters descend near Eliza’s bench. She sighs. Someone must have called a reporter, or maybe one had been staking out the park. She hoped it wasn’t a stakeout at the house. Caleb would kill them, if he got there before Ben.

“Eliza, have you spoken to your son’s real father?” a reporter calls over the clicking sounds of cameras and cameraphones. Eliza’s blood boils, but she continues watching Nat climb up the playset with some kids his age. 

“Is this baby your husband’s?” another reporter calls. Eliza’s hands clench. 

“What do you have to say about your brother’s attempted suicide?” a third calls. Jesus Christ, Eliza thinks. Does this count as harassment? Can she call the cops on these assholes?

“That’s enough! Break it up!” Eliza glances over to see a man in a suit and sunglasses approaching the reporters. He holds up a badge. “You’re loitering and disrupting the peace! Move along!” The reporters look mutinous, but they put away their equipment. The man in the suit stands at the fence line with a stern expression, watching them go. 

When the reporters have gotten back in their cars and gone, the man in the suit walks into the playground area. He looks at the play equipment as if he’s counting the number of children playing on it. Then he walks over to Eliza’s bench.

“Thanks,” Eliza says as he approaches. He takes his sunglasses off.

“You’re welcome,” he says, face far less threatening. “Agent Coulson, SHIELD. May I sit?”

“Sure,” Eliza says. Coulson takes the seat beside her on the bench. 

“It’s a beautiful day,” he says. “Shame they had to intrude.”

“Isn’t it,” Eliza says. She keeps her gaze on Nat, though Coulson stays in her peripheral. “Do you know Agent Brewster?”

“We’ve worked together,” Coulson answers. “He a friend of yours?” 

“I think you know he is,” Eliza says. “I saw you at my brother’s engagement party.” Coulson shrugs. 

“Fair enough. I thought you might see through that,” he says. 

“Hi, Phil!” Nat comes running over, waving at Coulson. Coulson smiles at him. 

“Hello again,” Coulson says. Nat goes to Eliza, putting his arms around her belly. “We met at the party. Agent Brewster introduced us.”

“I see,” Eliza says. She puts a hand on Nat’s head. “And how did you know we were here? Are you watching us?”

“Maybe,” Coulson says without a hint of shame. “You are a fairly important person.”

“In whose eyes?” Eliza asks. 

“SHIELD’s,” Coulson says. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out some business cards. “If you have any more problems like this, or you feel unsafe, you can call me or the lead agent on your surveillance. We’ll probably already be on it, but in case we’re not, give us a call.” Eliza takes the cards. She puts them in her pocket. 

“Your help is appreciated,” she says. “Does Agent Brewster know about this?”

“We haven’t briefed him on it yet, no,” Coulson says. “He’s really not happy with our boss right now.”

“And why’s that?” Eliza says. 

“I don’t know,” Coulson says lightly. “I just have my orders.” He stands up. “Well, I have to get going.”

“All right. Thanks again,” Eliza says. 

“My pleasure. I hate reporters,” Coulson says. “Have a good afternoon.”

“You too.” Coulson walks off. Eliza looks down at Nat. She considers taking him home, getting away from prying eyes, but they probably have the house watched too. Might as well let Nat have his fun. 

*

“They’re WHAT?” Caleb’s shout echoes off the living room walls. Nat covers his ears. Ben goes over to Nat’s spot on the floor and sits with him. 

“Caleb, easy,” Ben says, pulling Nat into his lap. Caleb, standing by the couch, sighs.

“Sorry, Nat. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he says. Nat nods and curls into Ben. “But they’re watching you?” He directs that to Eliza, who’s sitting on the couch.

“Apparently, my safety is important to SHIELD,” she answers. 

“Because of your parents or because of Caleb?” Ben asks.

“Coulson didn’t say.”

“But neither of those make sense,” Caleb says, frustration leaking into his voice. “I mean, yeah, it’d be bad on those ends if something happened to you, but you’re not a high-rated target for that. The things I’ve pissed off can’t be fought by most SHIELD agents and barely anyone who’s pissed at your parents would come after you.”

“I’m aware,” Eliza says. “Is it because of the kidnapping story? Are they suspicious?”

“No, they know the real story,” Caleb says, shaking his head. Eliza and Ben raise brows. “I mean. They know my story and Fury knows where you both came from.”

“Maybe that’s why,” Ben suggests. “Maybe SHIELD is interested in time slips.”

“Then why don’t they just ask?” Eliza says. Ben shrugs. 

“I don’t like this.” Caleb starts pacing with that declaration. “I don’t like this at all.”

“Which is probably why they didn’t tell you,” Ben says. 

“That and I called Fury a few nasty names the last time I saw him,” Caleb says. “He deserved each one, but still.”

“I imagine that’s not helping your case at all,” Eliza replies. 

“I know we’re very upset about this surveillance thing, and we should revisit it, but we have another problem,” Ben says. “Douglas approached me today-”

“Oh, God,” Eliza groans. “Tell me it wasn’t about the DNA tests.”

“What, that bull again?” Caleb says, stopping. “What was he saying? Not that cuckolding shite like Abe.”

“No, he seems to think putting out the story at the ‘opportune’ moment would be ‘beneficial,’” Ben says, disdain in his voice. He brushes Nat’s hair out of his face. 

“He wants to stop Mom from running against Garcetti in two years,” Eliza says, running a hand over her face. “I agree, her running against a sitting president from her own party is one of her stupidest ideas, but I told him we weren’t going to do this. Nat’s not political fodder and you two are the only dads he needs.”

“I told him the same,” Ben says. “Douglas must really want to kill this campaign if he’s coming to us for help.”

“Yeah, he thinks the family will fall apart if they’re- we’re- put through another campaign,” Eliza says. “I don’t disagree.” Caleb sits next to Eliza.

“I can think of ten better ways to nuke the campaign,” Caleb says, putting an arm around Eliza. She leans against him. “How they reacted to you and Freddie would be number one.”

“Right? So much for being pro-gay,” Eliza says. “Douglas can find something else.”

*

A few days later, Eliza is teaching Nat about colors. She took a science trick she learned from a teacher online and mixed cornstarch, water, and food coloring in six different bowls. Nat is delighted to discover each of the bowls has a ‘magic potion’ that is liquid when it dribbles from his fingers or a spoon but solid if he mashes his hands into it. It doesn’t take long for the yellow to be dotted with red and the blue to be swirled with green and purple. Nat has gotten most of the names down by then, so Eliza lets him play and mix the colors as much as he likes. He splatters both of them and the table with quick-drying goo. 

There’s a pounding on the front door. Nat jumps, rattling the orange bowl. Eliza reaches over and steadies his perch on the kitchen chair. The door flies open and T.J. bursts in, looking harried. 

“T.J., what-”

“I fucked up,” T.J. interrupts. He starts crossing his arms back and forth. “I really, really fucked up this time, Liza-”

“Nat, honey, why don’t you get down and play in the living room?” Eliza says. “We can play with potions later.” Nat nods. Eliza helps him climb down. He pats T.J. on the leg, leaving an orange handprint on his uncle’s jeans, before hurrying off to the living room.

“One, stop swearing in front of my kid,” Eliza says. “Two, what did you fuck up?”

“I was talking to Dougie and he started asking me about Nat and stuff,” T.J. says. Eliza groans. “And he asked me who’s, you know, Nat’s biological dad. And the first thing I thought was ‘it’s not Caleb.’”

“Tell me you didn’t say that,” Eliza says, eyes wide.

“I did,” T.J. says miserably. 

“Why would you say that?” Eliza asks, heart pounding in her ears. “What did Douglas say?”

“Well, he started looking at me weird and he was like, ‘why would you say that’ and I was like I don’t know, because Caleb’s really close with you guys and some people might go to that conclusion,” T.J. says. “Then Dougie was like ‘is Eliza having an affair with Caleb?’ and I was like no, they’d never do that to Ben, and then he was like, ‘are they both sleeping with him?’ and I didn’t really know what to say and he swore and he left.”

“Oh my God,” Eliza says, covering her face. “T.J.-”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” T.J. says. “I shouldn’t have said anything about Caleb but you guys have this whole threesome thing going on and I always associate you guys together-”

“It’s called a triad and it’s not a thing the American public would find wholesome!” Eliza says, covering her face with her hands. “Douglas is going to flip over this!”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” T.J. says again. 

*

Eliza can’t reach Douglas. She keeps trying, T.J. watching Nat in the living room, and then she calls Ben to tell him what’s going on. Next she calls Caleb. 

“Hey, Eliza,” Caleb says.

“Caleb, we’ve got a problem. Douglas-”

“He’s here with me,” Caleb interrupts. Eliza blinks. 

“He’s what?”

“He came to talk to me at the office,” Caleb says. “Asked about us, as you might have guessed.”

“What did you say?” Eliza says.

“I told him the truth, didn’t I?” Caleb says. “No use lying. He’d figure it out on his own, and I’d rather him have the whole picture.”

“When you say the whole picture,” Eliza says slowly. “Do you mean-”

“All of it,” Caleb says. Eliza shuts her eyes. “It makes more sense that way.

“Caleb,” Eliza says, an edge in her voice.

“Here, you can talk to him,” Caleb says. The phone is passed over before Eliza can say anything. 

“Oh my God,” Douglas says in a hushed voice. “You do know how to use a gun. You met George Washington.”

“That’s where Nat’s middle name came from,” Eliza says. “Wait, Caleb told you all of that too?”

“I have your diary in my hands,” Douglas says. Caleb has her diary? And he’s showing it to her brother? She’s going to kill him. “Does T.J. know about all this?”

“Caleb told him before we got back. Douglas, you can’t tell anyone about this,” Eliza says before they can get too distracted. 

“But Mom and Dad would like Ben so much more if they knew this-”

“They’d like parading him in front of potential voters, that’s for sure,” Eliza interrupts.

“Fair point,” Douglas agrees. “I’m just- I’m having a hard time processing- you did all these things, these amazing things.”

“I don’t know about amazing,” Eliza says. “I would love to talk to you about this more sometime, but I need to talk to Caleb right now. Can you put him back on?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Douglas hands the phone back. Eliza rubs her temple and the baby kicks to show her own irritation. 

“Yes, Liza Love?” Caleb says. 

“We are going to have a talk when you get home,” Eliza says as sweetly as she can manage. “Thank you for handling Douglas.”

“No problem,” Caleb says, voice calm. “Looking forward to it. See you soon.”

*

Ben gets home first. Eliza retells Caleb’s response to Douglas. Ben is almost as unamused as Eliza about the whole thing, which is a pretty impressive considering it’s not his diary being shown to his brothers. 

By the time Caleb gets home, they persuaded T.J. to leave and put Nat to bed. Caleb’s tardiness doesn’t help either of their moods at all.

“Oi,” Caleb says when he sees the two of them sitting at the kitchen table with crossed arms and sour expressions. “What crawled up your asses?”

“I told you we were going to have a talk,” Eliza replies. 

“Yeah, but I thought I did the right thing,” Caleb says. “I kept your brother from blowing our secret-”

“You told him our secrets without consulting us,” Ben says. 

“There wasn’t exactly time to consult you. He came into my office yelling about me sleeping with you two and drove Phil out,” Caleb says. 

“You’re showing my journal to my brothers. You could have mentioned that you showed it to T.J. so I could have weighed in on whether I wanted it shown to anyone else,” Eliza says. “It’s my journal!”

“How else am I supposed to convince them you actually went back in time if I don’t show it to them?” Caleb says, frustration coming into his face. “I don’t see the problem- Douglas is off our backs and T.J. didn’t kill himself while we were waiting for you!”

“We’re not saying you didn’t do the right thing, we’re saying that you need to talk to us about these things!” Ben says, standing up. “You don’t get to make decisions that affect all of us by yourself!”

“You had no problem when you got to make the decisions for everyone!” Caleb spits back. 

“I was your commanding officer!” Ben replies. 

“And when it came to decisions about Nat or about our family, Ben always talked with me before he made his decision,” Eliza interjects, trying to stay calm. “Just like when we were deciding whether to send Nat to preschool or whether to have this baby at home, the three of us talked about it. All we’re saying is this is something we need to talk about together.”

“I handled it fine on my own,” Caleb says again. 

“You don’t need to handle it on your own!” Eliza says. “You’re not alone anymore. We are here and we can help make decisions.” Caleb opens his mouth, then shuts it again.

“We aren’t saying you aren’t making good decisions,” Ben says. “It’s that we should be making these decisions together. It’s what married people do, and let’s face it, you’re as married to us as legally possible.”

“Right,” Caleb says slowly. “I just…I didn’t think of it like that.” 

“We know,” Ben says.

“Two centuries of being alone will do that to a person,” Eliza adds. “I wasn’t great at it when Ben and I started either.” Ben makes a face, which gets Caleb to crack a smile. “I wasn’t that bad!”

“You were convinced I was going to abandon you at every turn-”

“I got over it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For future reference, Eliza asked her OB about the baby's gender, but Ben and Caleb want to be surprised, so they don't know, in case anyone gets confused. Also, Douglas is really just trying to protect his family here.


	6. Eliza Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Tony Stark! I'm playing with the timelines a little here, so he's in the beginning-ish of Iron Man 2. He's also a very amicable ex of T.J.'s.

Douglas is thankfully too busy to come interrogate Eliza about being in the Revolution. Elaine has him coordinating a summit and it seems to be eating up all his time. T.J. is also pretty busy with his club opening, though he finds the time to come over most days. 

One afternoon, T.J. comes over to the house with a giant cardboard box, a few smaller boxes, bubblewrap, and markers. 

“What’s all this?” Eliza says as he hauls the load into the living room.

“Nat and I are gonna make a castle,” T.J. says. He dumps the boxes and bubblewrap on the floor. Nat looks at him suspiciously.

“A castle?” Nat repeats. “How?” T.J. gets on the floor. He props the big box so the opening faces Nat.

“We have the main part.” T.J. stacks the smaller boxes on the corners of the big one. “Towers.” He takes the bubblewrap and lays it around the big box. “And a moat. But the fun part is-” T.J. holds up the markers. “Decorating! Come on, it’s gonna be great!” Nat grins and hurries over. He steps on the bubblewrap, popping it under his feet. That distracts him and he starts stomping on the bubbles instead of going to T.J.

“Saw that one coming,” Eliza says, smiling. She goes over to the couch and sits down to watch the boys. “This is a great idea, T.J.”

“One of my vendors told me he did this with his kids,” T.J. says. He beams at the praise. “I had a free hour and we had tons of boxes.” He takes out a marker and grabs a side of the box. T.J. starts writing Nat’s name in big letters. 

“How is the club going?” Eliza asks. “Did you get the money?” 

“Yeah, actually, Tony called me up the other day,” T.J. says. “He asked if he could invest with me. He’s flying down tomorrow to see how things are going.”

“Tony?” Eliza repeats. “Tony gave you 100k for a nightclub?”

“Yeah,” T.J. says. He caps the marker and turns to Eliza. “I’m kinda worried about him. He sounded weird on the phone, and he really wanted to give me the money. Like, I said no at first, but he insisted.”

“That is weird for him,” Eliza says. “Do you want to bring him over for dinner tomorrow? See if we can figure out what’s going on?”

“I can try. You know how he gets about going to family things,” T.J. says. “Also he thinks you’re going to try to steal Pepper Potts from him.”

“I have a husband,” Eliza says, rolling her eyes. “I practically have two husbands. But don’t tell him that part.”

“Yeah, not sure if telling him you’re polyamorous would assuage that fear at all,” T.J. says. Nat takes that moment to stop stomping and go over to T.J. 

“Can you draw a dinosaur?” he asks. “I wanna dinosaur on it.”

“Sure! What kind of dinosaur, buddy?” T.J. says. 

“A big one!”

*

Ben comes home to a completed castle and a son covered in marker. He looks at Eliza, who shrugs.

“T.J. was in charge,” she says. “I left for five minutes.” Ben sighs.

“And when we get to bathtime, how do I get this off him?” he asks

“It’s washable. Soap should do the trick.”

*

Caleb is away on ‘business.’ He says this on the phone with disgust in his voice, so Eliza’s fairly sure it was SHIELD business. Why Caleb hates SHIELD so much, Eliza doesn’t know. 

T.J. and Tony arrive shortly after Ben gets home from work. The house is mostly clean, the exception being Nat’s toys in the living room around his castle, because they can hardly get Nat out of his castle. When he hears T.J.’s voice, though, Nat races out of his castle to the front door.

“Unnnncccllleee Teeeee-Jaaaaaaayyyy!” Nat shouts, running over. From the kitchen, Eliza and Ben can hear the rustling of plastic bags and an ‘oof!’ as Nat collides with his uncle.

“Hey, Nat! How’s it going, buddy?” T.J. says. 

“Good!” Nat answers. “Who’s he?”

“This is my good friend Tony. He’s having dinner with us tonight,” T.J. says.

“Sup, kid,” Tony says. Ben turns to Eliza at that, raising a brow.

“That’s Tony,” Eliza says. “He’s a character.”

“Okay,” Ben says, not looking particularly assuaged. T.J. and Tony come in, the former carrying Nat under his arm and the latter carrying bags that smell delicious. T.J. walks up to Eliza and Ben.

“Hey, guys.” He kisses Eliza on the cheek and high-fives Ben. “Found something of yours.” He holds Nat out to Ben, who takes the toddler.

“Thank you very much. I was missing him dearly,” Ben replies. He lifts Nat up to kiss the top of his head and Nat giggles.

“Daddy, Uncle T.J. brought a Tony,” he says. Eliza’s already heading over to a somewhat uncomfortable looking Tony.

“It’s good to see you, Tony,” she says, taking one of his wrists. He blinks and plasters on his best smile.

“You too, though you’re kinda the size of a whale right now,” Tony says, setting the bags down on the kitchen table. “Seriously, you’ve let yourself go, kid.”

“I beg your pardon!” Ben says hotly. Tony glances at him while Eliza laughs.

“Says the guy who’s going gray at the temples. Nice dye job,” she says. “Ben, don’t mind him. This is how Tony shows affection.” She takes Tony by the collar and pulls his face where she can reach. Eliza kisses Tony’s cheek and he fakes a grimace.

“Don’t give away my secrets, Eliza! How am I supposed to keep my reputation if you tell everyone I’m not an asshole?” 

“How are you supposed to keep your teeth if you insult me in front of my husband?” Eliza answers. Tony shrugs as she lets him go.

“Fair point. Hi, I’m Tony Stark, which you probably knew, and I’m not actually a dick,” Tony says to Ben. Ben eyes him warily. 

“Hi. I didn’t know your last name and good to know,” Ben says. 

“How do you not know my last name? Were you not born in this century?” Tony says. Ben shrugs. He puts Nat on the table and Nat scoots over to cling onto Tony.

“I like him,” Nat declares. Tony looks mildly appalled. 

“What exactly do I do with this?” he asks Eliza.

“Letting him sit on your lap would be a start,” she says. Tony shudders. 

“Fine.” 

*

Tony gets used to Nat in about five minutes. For all his bitching, he settles into having a child hang off him very quickly. Ben takes a little longer to adjust to Tony, who keeps up his asshole persona for a good long while. Once that drops, after about an hour, then Ben starts to like Tony.

Soon, Nat wants to show T.J. his additions to his castle, and Ben follows the two of them out. Eliza starts to clean up the debris from dinner and Tony bounds up to help.

“Don’t you dare- you’re supposedly in a delicate state,” he says, taking the foam containers from her hands. “Sit your fat ass back down.”

“Love you too, Tony,” Eliza says. She sits back down, but gathers the garbage into a pile while Tony takes what he took to the can. 

“Nice kid you’ve got there,” Tony notes. “Grabby, but you know, well-behaved.”

“We try,” Eliza says. Tony comes back to the table to get the rest of the trash. “So what’s going on?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Tony says. He keeps his eyes on the foam containers, the foil and the paper wrappings. “I’m Iron Man. I’m a CEO. I save lives.”

“Yeah, and you’re suddenly giving away shittons of money,” Eliza says. Tony ignores her and takes the trash away. She turns in her chair. “Tony, you gave T.J. the money for his nightclub-”

“Conditionally!” Tony says, shoving the trash in the can. “He has to stay sober or it goes away! We agreed today and I’m writing a contract.”

“Still,” Eliza says. “And I know you’re not a CEO anymore. You gave that to your assistant, who, while not a bad choice, is also one of your closest friends. You also gave a huge donation to the VA in Rhodey’s name-”

“Can’t a guy be generous to his friends?” Tony interrupts, spreading his hands. “I am a philanthropist. And Pepper’s going to be a much better CEO than I ever was. For one thing, she actually cares about the company.”

“That’s not the point and you know it,” Eliza replies. “T.J. and I are both really concerned that you’re not okay, and we know you. We know you better than anyone but Rhodey, so don’t try to lie to me, Tony.” Tony stares at her defiantly for a moment, and she holds his gaze. Finally, he sighs.

“God, I hate when you do that,” he says. He comes back to the table and sits next to her, slumping against the table. “You’re right. I’m not okay.”

“What is it?” Eliza puts a hand on his elbow, leaning forward as best she can. Tony props his head on his arms.

“Blood toxicity,” he says. “The stuff I use to power my arc reactor is poisoning me. So it’s either let shrapnel tear through my heart or slowly get poisoned.”

“And there’s nothing else you can use to power the arc reactor?” Eliza asks. 

“Nope. Not a single element or combination of elements on the whole periodic table,” Tony says. “Can’t get surgery to remove the shrapnel either.”

“That’s a really tough situation, Tony,” Eliza says. “Have you tried getting a second opinion on this?”

“I asked JARVIS,” Tony says. “Who needs a second opinion after talking to him?”

“Wait, Tony, are you telling me that you haven’t actually seen a doctor about this?” Eliza says. Tony looks at her like she’s grown a second head. 

“What would I need a doctor for? JARVIS is smarter than any human being and he’s connected to the Internet. He knows everything,” he says. Eliza has to bite back a retort and count to ten. 

“Tony, sometimes humans can come up with innovative ideas that AIs can’t,” she says, using the same tone she does when she explains why Nat should go to bed now. “I know JARVIS is an incredible invention, but another human can be an asset-”

“No, JARVIS and I ran every scenario. There’s nothing anyone can do,” Tony says. He sits up. “But now that you know, you can help me with this T.J. thing. He made me promise to take the money away if he doesn’t stay sober, and obviously I can’t do that if I’m dead-”

“Tony, I think you’re overlooking-”

“But you can take care of it!” Tony says, ignoring her entirely. “I’ll make you the executor of that contract. That will be perfect. You’ll know when he’s sober.”

“But-” 

“Eliza, you gotta promise me you’ll take care of this,” Tony says. “I want T.J. to be okay even if I can’t take care of him. Please.” He looks at her with big pleading eyes and Eliza sighs. 

“Fine, Tony. You can put me down for that, but I really think you need to talk to actual doctors,” she says. 

“They’re just gonna tell me what I already know,” Tony says. “Look, it’s gonna be fine. I’m setting everything up. If you keep this to yourself, I’ll leave you some big college funds for your kids.”

*

Eliza cannot convince Tony to actually see a doctor before he leaves the house. He makes her promise not to tell anyone about his condition too, which makes things more difficult in helping him. 

T.J. leaves with Tony, and he’ll probably call Eliza about it tomorrow. Ben and Eliza put Nat to bed. While Ben’s downstairs, making sure he has everything ready for work tomorrow, Eliza is in their bedroom, looking through her wallet. She finds a small white business card in its folds. Eliza takes the card out and stares at it, trying to decide whether or not she should call the number on it. Tony wouldn’t be happy; Caleb would be downright angry if he found out. Yet Eliza is sorely, sorely tempted.

She picks up her phone and dials.

“Phil Coulson,” says a male voice on the other end of the line. 

“Eliza Hammond,” she answers in a low voice. “I need to talk to you about Tony Stark…”


	7. Ben Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! Sorry, I spent the last two Fridays, my posting days, travelling, and forgot to post. I have not abandoned this and hopefully neither has anyone else!

Caleb picks up Ben from work the next day. It’s a nice surprise, since Caleb had been away for a few days and Ben didn’t know he was coming home this soon. They head home, talking about what they want to do for dinner.

When they get home, they hear Eliza talking to someone other than Nat. Ben and Caleb exchange a look as they set down their respective bags, wondering who the hell it is. They head into the kitchen, where they find Eliza at the kitchen table with Nat at her feet and a strange man across the table.

“Fury,” Caleb growls. Eliza and the man look up. Ben is surprised by the rage on Caleb’s face as he looks at the man.

“Brewster,” the man says in a civil voice. 

“You’ve got some fucking nerve showing up here,” Caleb says. “Some fucking nerve.”

“I understand you’re not happy with my presence here-”

“No shit!” Caleb spits out.

“But I am merely extending an offer that was going to be made in 2009,” Fury finishes. Caleb looks at Eliza, who shrugs. 

“Apparently, he was going to hire me when I disappeared,” she says. “SHIELD is willing to make accommodations for me with the kids.”

“And did he tell you the stick for if you don’t take the carrot?” Caleb bites off. “It seems fine and dandy until then.” His voice is bitterer than Ben has ever heard it, and it scares Ben to no end. 

“Look at that,” Rogers whispers in Ben’s ear. “Do you even know that man?”

“Your loyalties have never been to SHIELD, Brewster. I was just assuring your services,” Fury says. 

“Oohoo,” Rogers says, laughing. 

“What is he talking about, Caleb?” Ben says. Fury eyes Caleb as Caleb shakes with repressed anger. 

“I think it’s time I take my leave,” Fury says, standing. “Consider our offer, Mrs. Tallmadge.” He leaves the room, heading for the door. Caleb and the Tallmadges watch him go. Caleb is still shaking, Eliza is still looking at him with wide eyes, and Rogers is still jeering when the door shuts behind Fury.

“What was he talking about, Caleb?” Eliza repeats. Ben can’t speak with Rogers’ laughter in his ears. Caleb takes a deep breath to calm himself.

“He came to the hospital,” Caleb says. “While Ben was sick. Fury showed up with some agents and threatened to arrest Ben for kidnapping you unless I agreed to do what he wanted.”

“Ah, so this is your fault!” Rogers says. “I should have known!”

“What?” Ben says, head swimming. “Why- why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. Because I probably wouldn’t have gone on his stupid initiative now that you three are here,” Caleb says, shaking his head. “I don’t care about SHIELD and he knows it. But he pulls that stunt and dares to come here and offer you a job after threatening us-”

“I wouldn’t have let him in if I’d known!” Eliza interrupts. “He probably counted you not telling us that so he could come here!” 

“Why would I tell you that? It’s awful!” Caleb replies in the same tone. Nat claps his hands over his ears. “You don’t need to know about all the terrible things I deal with-”

“Yes, we do!” Eliza pushes herself to stand. “We can’t make safe, informed decisions if we don’t know what’s going on! You set up our home to be safe from things we don’t even know the names of and we don’t know how to protect ourselves from them. I let in a man who threatened Ben with jail to coerce you into doing something dangerous!”

“God, you’re so fucking useless,” Rogers says to Ben. “They have to take care of you like you’re another child.”

“I’m trying to protect you!” Caleb says. “That’s what I do!” 

“You can’t do that by keeping things from us,” Ben says, keeping his voice even. Both of his lovers turn to him, as if they’d forgotten he was there, which hurts more than anything Rogers could say. “Caleb, you’re trying to protect us, and we understand that. Eliza’s right. You have to tell us when there’s something threatening us so we can protect ourselves. We need to trust that you’re being honest with us about the dangers in our lives. We all need to be honest with each other.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “And we need to stop yelling in front of Nat. He doesn’t like it.” Caleb and Eliza both look under the table, where Nat is cautiously lowering his hands. 

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry,” Eliza says. 

“I’m sorry, bug. I shouldn’t have yelled,” Caleb says. He gets down on the floor. “Come here, Nat.” Nat crawls out from under the table and goes to Caleb. He climbs into Caleb’s arms and curls up. 

“There’s my boy,” Caleb says, standing up with Nat. “And I suppose you two have a point. I’ve told you pretty much everything about the Fury situation now, but you should know a bit more about demons than I’ve told you.”

“That would be helpful,” Eliza says, a little acid leaking into her voice.

“Eliza,” Ben says sternly.

“Don’t use your Major voice on me! I’m allowed to be annoyed!” Eliza replies. “Just a little, anyway.” 

*

Rogers doesn’t leave Ben alone for the rest of the night. He keeps reminding Ben how stupid he is, how useless he’s been, and that they’d all be better off without him. For the first time, Ben’s starting to listen. He knows he shouldn’t. He knows Rogers is lying. And yet, he can’t shut him out as well as he usually can.  
Ben’s phone rings as he’s putting off going to bed. Eliza glances at him curiously- the only people who call Ben are her and Caleb. Ben picks the phone off the kitchen table. 

“It’s Douglas,” he says, reading the screen. Eliza arches a brow. 

“You’d best answer it, then,” she says. Ben does, putting the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” he says.

“Hey, Ben, what are you doing this weekend?” Douglas says. 

“I don’t have any plans,” Ben says. “Do we have any plans, Eliza?”

“You let your wife make the plans, Tallmadge? What sort of man are you?” Rogers scoffs.

“Not til Monday, no,” Eliza answers. “What’s he up to?”

“What’s going on?” Ben repeats. 

“We’re going fishing,” Douglas says, a lack of enthusiasm in his voice. “Dad wants to go visit his polling savant in the woods, so he is taking me and T.J. fishing. You and Nat are also invited. It’s a guys’ weekend.” 

“Who’d want to spend a weekend with you?” Rogers says. 

“Um, well. I don’t see any reason why not,” Ben says. “Eliza, what do you think of Nat and I going fishing with your father and brothers this weekend?”

“Why are you asking her permission, boy? She’s your wife, not your commander!” Rogers says. Ben swears he can see Rogers’ face behind Eliza, looking at him with contempt.

“I…don’t see any reason why not,” Eliza says. “They want you to go fishing?”

“Even she can’t believe it!” Rogers says. “Nobody wants to spend time with you!”

“Thank you for the invitation, Douglas. When are we leaving?” Ben says, because he doesn’t have a response to Eliza or Rogers.

“Tomorrow morning. We’ll pick you up,” Douglas says. “It’ll be early. This guy lives in the middle of nowhere.”

“That’s not a problem,” Ben says. “Nat’s up by six most mornings anyway.”

“Six it is, man. Don’t blame me when I send T.J. in after you,” Douglas says with a laugh. “I’ll see you then.” 

“See you then.” Douglas hangs up the phone. Ben puts it back on the table and looks at Eliza. 

“We’re going fishing. We’re going to see a Polling Savant?” he says. Eliza rolls her eyes.

“Jubal Jacobs. That should be fun,” she says. 

“What’s going to be fun?” Caleb appears in the kitchen. 

“Ben’s going fishing with Dad and my brothers tomorrow,” Eliza says. Caleb makes a face.

“Even he doesn’t like the idea of being with you,” Rogers says, hovering behind Caleb. 

“Who did you piss off, Ben?” Caleb says. 

“Nobody. Douglas invited me,” Ben says. “I think it’s supposed to be a bonding experience.”

“They’re going to see Jubal Jacobs,” Eliza says. “You know the story between Jubal and Dad?”

“He fucked Jubal’s wife, didn’t he?” Caleb says. Ben sighs. 

“Of course. How exactly does Jubal feel about that?”

“How do you think, Tallboy?” Caleb says. “He’s pissed.” 

“Stupid boy,” Rogers adds. “Stupid, stupid Tallboy.”

“Don’t-” Ben catches himself addressing Rogers and redirects himself. “Don’t assume it’s going to be bad. Maybe it’ll be nice, Nat with T.J. and Douglas. He doesn’t get to spend any time with Douglas.”

“That’s true,” Eliza says. “We trust you to keep Nat safe if things get weird.”

“Absolutely,” Caleb agrees. “You could use your Major voice on Jubal. That should be fun.”

“You think it’d work?” Ben asks. 

“No,” Rogers says. 

“Oh, yeah,” Caleb says with a laugh. “That voice’d work on anyone. You know, I’d pay to see you use it on Bud or Elaine.” Eliza laughs. 

“Oh my God. Yes, please,” she says. “Please use that voice on them.” Ben smiles. 

“Or I could use it on you two right now,” he says. That gets a wicked grin from Eliza and a sound of interest from Caleb. They both go over to Ben and start pulling him from his chair. 

*

The ride to Jacobs’ farm is long. They leave early in the morning, as promised, and even Nat is a little groggy. Ben has toys and books for Nat once he starts to wake up. Douglas has coffee for everyone but Nat. He sits on the other side of the boy from Ben, and he watches Ben entertain Nat on the way. Douglas is utterly mystified by everything Ben does in that regard, giving Ben an audience of two. 

Then they finally arrive. They stop at a house far from everything with a barn out back. It feel more familiar here than the city. 

“Please tell me this isn’t the place,” Douglas says in an undertone. 

“It seems nice enough,” Ben says.

“You were born in 1754. Our definitions of ‘nice enough’ are very different,” Douglas replies. 

“Shake a leg, boys!” Bud says as the men pile out of the car into the fresh air. “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll hit the bait store.” Douglas starts bitching about wi-fi as Ben gets Nat out of the car. 

“Uncle Abe?” Nat asks, looking around. Ben’s heart aches. 

“Who?” T.J. says. 

“An old friend. No, Nat, Uncle Abe’s not here,” Ben says. He hefts Nat onto his hip.

“Jubal!” Bud calls in the direction of the house. A man appears through the half door on the house. Ben recognizes the way he’s walking and passes Nat to T.J.

“Dude-”

“Get on out here, you old son of a bitch!” Bud says, walking up. Jacobs swings aside the half door to reveal the shotgun he’s carrying. “Is that any way to greet a friend?” Jacobs walks to Bud. Ben does the same. 

“Is that what you call it?” Jacobs points the gun at Bud as Ben reaches them. 

“Now, Jubal, don’t do nothing dumb,” Bud says. “See my friend Sam-”

“Put that down!” Ben orders, standing next to Bud. Jacobs flinches and looks at Ben. “I said put that down!” Jacobs lowers the gun almost unintentionally. Ben reaches out and takes the weapon. 

“Stupid,” he says, opening the loading area. Ben dumps the bullets on the ground.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jacobs says.

“I think you were holding this wrong.” Ben tosses the gun aside. “You would have sent yourself flying backward and missed him entirely. You’d go to jail for something stupid.”

“He screwed my wife!” Jacobs says. Douglas and T.J. mutter behind Ben.

“That is a lie!” Bud exclaims. “That is a slanderous, hurtful accusation!”

“Either way, it’s something you should talk about with your wife,” Ben says. “You brandish a weapon in front of my son again and I’ll use it on you. Do you understand?” He keeps his voice very calm, which seems to unnerve Jacobs more than the actual threat. Jacobs nods. “Good.” Ben starts walking back to T.J. and Nat. 

“Jubal, that’s my son-in-law, Ben Tallmadge,” Bud says. “Ben, maybe you could refrain from threatening my friends?”

“If they refrain from using weapons in front of my son,” Ben replies, taking Nat back from T.J. Bud dismisses that and starts talking to Jacobs. T.J. and Douglas look at Ben in awe. 

“Dude,” T.J. says. “That was bad-ass!”

“What was that voice?” Douglas says. “I need a voice like that.”

“I learned from the best,” Ben says. 

*

After Bud gets Jacobs on board, they head to the river. The Hammond boys are not dressed for fishing at all. Ben has actually been in water related activities recently, so he made sure he and Nat were dressed for it. Bud has poles for everyone, even Nat. Nat absolutely no interest in the pole, however; he would rather try catching the fish with his hands, chasing them up the river. Ben has to go retrieve him a few times. Bud convinces Nat to try the pole once. While he does like playing with it, he does not like the idea of hurting the fish. 

*

“Whoa, I got one!” Douglas says suddenly, trying to take the pole out from the crook of his elbow. T.J. goes over to him as Douglas’ phone starts to ring, Nat on his heels. 

“Oh, shit.” Douglas shifts from trying to move the pole to trying to get the phone. “Can you grab it for me?” He looks at T.J. 

“Phone or pole?” T.J. says. Douglas puts the phone to his ear.

“Yes, this is him, speaking!” T.J. pushes his pole into Ben’s hands and goes to help Douglas.

“Forget the damn phone!” Bud says as the pole in Douglas’ elbow starts to bend. T.J. tries to take the pole. “You’re gonna lose it, son! You’re gonna-” The phone flies out of Douglas’ hand. Nat, the closest, goes to catch it. Both go into the water. Douglas is grabbing Nat out of the water before any of the other men can react.

“Nat! Jesus!” Douglas pulls Nat out by the back of his shirt. Nat spits out some water.

“I got it!” he announces, holding up the phone proudly. Ben laughs in relief. He walks over to Douglas and Nat.

“Goodness, Nat. You scared us,” Ben says. “Are you all right?” Nat nods.

“I blew bubbles,” he says. “I got it!” He holds the phone up to Douglas. 

“Oh my God,” T.J. says, face pale. 

“Look at what you’ve got that boy doing, Dougie,” Bud says. “He threw himself after that damn phone!”

“Nat, you are way, way more important than that phone,” Douglas says. His face is drawn. “Come here.” He picks Nat up and holds him close. This is probably the first time he’s ever held Nat without being prompted. 

“It’s a good thing you know how to swim, isn’t it, Nat?” Ben says.

“Uh-huh,” Nat says. “I blow bubbles and use my arms.” Ben reaches over and ruffles Nat’s wet hair. 

“Yes. Good boy,” he says. “No more chasing phones, though. Uncle Douglas is right about that.”

*

When they go back to Jacobs’ farm, T.J. finds towels. He and Douglas wrap Nat in them, fussing over him like he’s made of glass. Ben doesn’t try to stop them; he thinks it’s rather funny how worried they are over Nat, who is absolutely fine. Nat looks at Ben with a confused expression as his uncles make him a little towel mountain with a boy head. Bud barely pays any attention to the whole thing. 

“I’m so, so sorry,” Douglas says again, carrying Nat over to Ben. Ben takes Nat from Douglas and kisses the top of Nat’s head.

“It’s all right. He’s fine, that’s what matters,” Ben says. “One day, I’ll have to tell you all the story of when I fell in the Delaware in December. That was a much more dire situation.”

“What’s the Delaware?” Nat asks. 

“A very big, very cold river,” Ben says. “Uncle Caleb told your mother all about it with those words you’re not allowed to repeat.” T.J. laughs.

“Nice,” he says. 

“What were you doing falling into the Delaware?” Bud says. Ben turns around to face the couch. “Takes a special kind of idiot to go near enough to fall in during the winter.”

“The same kind who goes to a guy for help after screwing his wife?” Douglas says, voice aggressive.

“How many times do I have to say I did not touch that woman?” Bud says, rolling his eyes.

“I know, Dad, that’s your genius. It’s not a lie if you believe it,” Douglas snaps. Ben takes that moment to move for the door. “Well, if you wanna convince yourself that you’re not a cheater, that Mom can upset Garcetti, that T.J. is fine, that Ben is somehow the bad guy here, then you just go ahead!” Ben takes Nat to the front porch, where they can’t hear the angry voices as well. Ben sits on the steps with his son while Douglas starts yelling at Bud. Nat curls against Ben.

“Why’s Uncle Dougie so mad?” he asks in a low voice. 

“He’s not mad,” Ben says. “He’s hurting. Grandpa Bud isn’t very good at telling his kids that he loves them, and Uncle Dougie doesn’t always feel like his dad loves him.”

“Uh,” Nat says. “That’s not good.” 

“I know,” Ben says. He puts his chin on Nat’s head. “If I ever make you feel that way, you tell me. I love you so very much.” The yelling fades. Nat sighs. 

“Why’s ever-body so hurting all the time,” he mutters. “Don’t like it.” The door opens and Douglas steps out. He takes a deep, deep breath.

“Hey. Did I chase you out?” he says, spotting Ben and Nat.

“Nat’s not a big fan of yelling,” Ben says. Nat shakes his head. 

“Nuh-uh, nuh-uh.” Douglas comes over and sits next to Ben.

“Well, I don’t want you upset, little guy,” he says. “Especially not after that swim you just took.” Nat wriggles his hands free of their towel prison. He puts his hands on Douglas’ knee. 

“I’m good. You’re good. Ever-body’s good,” Nat says, emphasis on the last part. Douglas looks at Ben and Ben shrugs. 

“That’s right. We’re all good, Nat,” Ben says. “Would you like to sit out here a little longer? Let things cool off?”

“Yeah, might as well,” Douglas says with a sigh. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” Ben asks.

“Stay so calm,” Douglas says. “I’ve never seen you lose it, ever. And people have said some bad sh- things to you.”

“It was frowned upon to yell at your equals and your superiors when I served, so I learned to hold my tongue,” Ben replies. “You should hear me when I’m not around people.”

“And have him lose all that respect for you, Tallmadge?” Rogers whispers. Ben flinches; Rogers hadn’t bothered him all day. “You don’t want that, do you?”

“You all right?” Douglas says, frowning at Ben. 

“Yeah. Someone just walked over my grave,” Ben says quickly. Douglas nods.

“I hate when that happens.” 

*

They go back inside. Ben hands Nat to T.J., who looks in need of a small child in his lap. The three men try to squeeze on the couch and Douglas ends up on the arm. He starts showing Ben how to use all the different ‘apps’ on Ben’s phone- the only one Ben knows how to use is the camera. Douglas discovers that and they go through Ben’s pictures. Most of them are Nat, but there’s plenty of Eliza and Caleb, and things he saw that reminded him of them. Douglas and T.J. thoroughly enjoy going through and seeing it all. 

Bud is sitting with Jacobs at the kitchen table. He looks at Ben and his sons palling around, an unreadable expression on his face. Ben sees it if he looks up, but only for a second until Bud realizes he’s looking. 

After a while of being teased for taking so many pictures of his precious son, Ben gets up. Douglas slides into his vacated seat as Ben goes towards the kitchen to get some water or something. Jacobs looks up at him.

“You’re awful good with that kid,” Jacobs comments. Ben shrugs.

“I try to do my best with him. He deserves it.”

“But he’s not even yours,” Jacobs says boldly. T.J. and Douglas abruptly stop talking. Ben can feel their eyes on him. He gives Jacobs a cool look and Jacobs shrinks. 

“Yes, he is,” Ben says in his Major voice. Bud rolls his eyes.

“Ben, you’re a nice kid, but you know you’re not his real daddy,” he says. Ben’s blood boils. “You can play nice all you want, but you’re just depriving him of his real father.”

“I’m all the father he needs,” Ben says.

“What would you know about being a father?” Bud says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, Tallmadge. What would you know?” Rogers echoes. 

“What would you know about being a father?” Ben replies to Bud. “What exactly is your definition of fatherhood? Is it shoving your children under a national magnifying glass for your own gain? Is it having your staff manufacture family moments for a photo on your desk? Is it blaming your failures on them? Is it criticizing every personal choice they make when it isn’t something you agree with?” Bud doesn’t answer; he just stares at Ben like he can’t believe this is happening. Ben is too incensed to stop. “My definition of fatherhood is making sure my son knows he is loved, supported and respected. I want both of my children to know those things, and know that I am proud of them, so that when I say it aloud, neither looks shocked. That definition clearly isn’t what you’ve aspired to, so please enlighten me as to what I’m doing wrong. Go ahead. I’m waiting.” Bud’s mouth hangs open. The whole house is silent. Ben’s fury starts to die down as he glares at Bud. 

“Very nice, Benjamin,” Rogers whispers. “You showed him. But what damage have you done?” He chuckles loudly as Ben’s hands start to shake. 

“I need some air,” Ben says quickly. He goes to the front door, once again seeking the sanctuary of the porch. Ben sits himself in one of the wooden chairs and puts his head in his hands.

“Now you’ve done it,” Rogers says. “Not only have you burned that bridge with your father-in-law, but now they all know you’re a coward.”

“Shut up,” Ben mutters. 

“You thought things were bad before?” Rogers continues. “They’re about to get a lot worse.” Ben threads his fingers into his hair. That pulls his hair out of the tie, bringing it to fall around his face.

“Shite,” he says. “Fucking shite-”

“Hey.” Ben turns to see T.J. coming out of the house. T.J. pauses when he sees Ben’s face, but recovers quickly. “You want some help with that? I do Mom and Eliza’s hair sometimes and they hardly ever complain.”

“Sure. Fine,” Ben says. T.J. goes to stand behind Ben’s chair. 

“He deserved that,” T.J. says, taking the tie from Ben’s hair. “He’s been a shit dad since we were little and now he’s jealous of you being good with Nat and good with us.”

“Good with you?” Ben repeats. T.J. takes Ben’s hair up with one hand, gently pulling it into one place. He wraps the tie around the ponytail with ease.

“You’re basically the big brother I never had,” he says. “I’m the oldest, not by much, but still. Me and Dougie never had a guy who looked after us and we could look up to. Now we got you, and you make us feel respected. Important. Like we’re not fuckups. It’s really nice. That Douglas went to you to calm down before just showed Dad that we like you more than him- not that we’ve really liked him much at all these past few years.”

“He’s got a goddamn fundament where his mouth should be and shite where his heart should be,” Ben says hotly. “The things he’s put you three through- the things he did to your mother- I don’t even like your mother but-”

“Tallmadge,” Rogers scolds, clicking his tongue.

“Sorry,” Ben says quickly.

“Don’t worry about it,” T.J. says, sitting next to Ben. “Mom can be a real heinous bitch when she wants to. What’s a fundament?” 

“It’s your ass,” Ben tells him. T.J. starts to giggle. 

“Dude, I need to learn more old-timey swears…”

*

Ben and T.J. go back inside. Bud says nothing and avoids eye contact with Ben. T.J. pushes Ben onto the loveseat next to Douglas. Nat crawls into Ben’s lap and refuses to let go of his father. T.J. takes Ben’s phone from Douglas. 

“We should take pictures to send to Liza,” he says. “She’d love that.”

*

Jacobs finally comes up with some numbers. He starts talking in an excited tone about how Elaine can win, how there’s only a few places they need to win over. The Hammonds head over to listen while Ben and Nat read one of the books Ben brought.

“And the next morning, there was a note on the farmer’s door that said-”

“That’s my backyard!” Bud declares. “I’ll tie this state up with a nice, pretty bow! But Ohio is going to be tough. Now, the whole family’ll have to press the flesh-”

“Not the whole family,” Jacobs interrupts. Ben glances up to look at the table. Jacobs seems mildly uncomfortable.

“What’s the problem?” Douglas asks. 

“We can leave Liza’s side home if we have to,” Bud says dismissively. 

“Eliza’s family isn’t the problem,” Jacobs says. “Voters like Eliza and her family fine. It’s you they don’t like, Bud.” Bud is stunned into silence. “It’s not they don’t like you, it’s that they think you make Elaine look weak.” Everyone is quiet for a moment. Ben turns back around to Nat.

“Well, whatever way you slice it,” Bud says finally. “This is great news. I’m gonna get me a beer from the porch. This calls for a toast.” He walks out. Ben starts reading again.

“There was a note on the farmer’s door that said…”

*

The drive back to D.C. is not as awkward as it could have been. Bud and Douglas spend the whole time talking about how to run the campaign, which keeps Ben from having to worry about either. T.J. is happy to play with Nat on the ride. Ben suddenly finds himself exhausted as they get close to the house. 

“Hey, I’ll see you guys soon,” T.J. says as Ben gets Nat out of the car.

“Of course,” Ben says. 

“Bye, Uncle T.J.!” Nat calls.

“Oh, we need to plan a dinner with you guys and me and Anne!” Douglas says, breaking the political conversation for once. “I’ll call you or Eliza!”

“Sounds good,” Ben replies.

“Bye, Uncle Douglas!” Nat says. 

“Bye, Nat!” the Hammond boys call together. Ben carries Nat and the bag of Nat’s things back to the house. Once he gets them inside, he hears giggling and instantly knows his lovers had a better day than he did. 

“Nat, why don’t you hang out in your castle for a bit?” Ben says, setting Nat down on the floor.

“Okay!” Nat runs for the cardboard monstrosity in the living room. Ben heads for the stairs. As he gets closer to his bedroom, the giggling gets louder. Ben opens the door to find Caleb on top of Eliza.

“Uh, hi, Ben,” Eliza says, spotting him. “Where’s Nat?”

“Downstairs,” Ben says, kicking off his shoes. “I am officially turning him over to you two.” He throws himself on the bed next to the other two. 

“Fishing was that exciting, huh?” Caleb says, getting off Eliza.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ben replies.


	8. Ben Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Nick Fury's plans all come together, because he is a BAMF

Ben falls asleep a few minutes after Caleb and Eliza get up to take care of Nat. He doesn’t wake up until the sun sneaks its way into his eyes. 

“Ugh.” Ben rolls over onto a compact, muscled body. An arm snakes its way around his waist from the other side. 

“There you are,” Eliza mutters. “You slept for ages. We were worried about you.”

“Sorry,” Ben says. 

“You must have needed it,” Caleb says. Ben opens his eyes to see Caleb’s watching him. “We’ve got good news for you.”

“What’s that?” Ben asks.

“Elaine’s going on a three week tour around the world,” Caleb says.

“She’ll be out of our hair for three whole weeks,” Eliza says. “By then I’ll be so close to delivery we can beg off anything she throws at us, and we can keep T.J. close.”

“Hmm, that is good news,” Ben says, smirking. “Too bad about Douglas; we’re starting to get along.”

“Aw. I knew he wasn’t all asshole,” Caleb says. 

“I’m glad he’s coming around,” Eliza says. “We should just steal my brothers and sister-in-law from my parents. It’ll be great.”

“Can we leave your grandmother behind?” Caleb says. “She creeps me out.”

“Eh, she’s as bad as Mom. They deserve each other,” Eliza says. 

*

When Ben gets to work the next day, there is a man in a black suit waiting in his office. The man nods at him.

“Major Tallmadge,” he says. “I’m Phil Coulson. Director Fury has asked me to escort you to his office.” Ben nods. 

“I was wondering when this would happen,” he says. “I’ve been waiting.”

“The Director didn’t want to interrupt your family time,” Coulson answers. “If you’ll come with me, sir.”

“I should let my superior know-”

“He’s aware,” Coulson interrupts. “We have a car waiting, Major.” Ben notes the use of his rank and feels a certain pride well up in his chest. He follows Coulson out of the building to the black, featureless car.

*

Fury’s office is a large gray room with entire walls made of windows. Ben thinks it’s prettily designed but utterly colorless. He can hardly imagine decisions of import being made here.

Fury himself is just as deceptive in appearance. He doesn’t look like a man who holds the fates of the many in his hands, though Ben knows differently. Fury stands resolute in front of his desk, hands clasped behind his back like any good military man.

“Major,” Fury says, holding out a hand. Ben takes it.

“Director. Thank you for seeing me,” Ben says as they shake. Fury gives a small smile. 

“Well, I’m more than happy to meet an officer who served our country with such admirable skill,” he says. “I am a little surprised to hear from you. Brewster can’t have had many positive things to say about me after I left.”

“No, he swore up a storm after we put our son to bed,” Ben says mildly. “Which has very little to do with why I’m here.” 

“Do tell me what is, Major. I am very interested in what you have to say,” Fury says. His voice is sincere, a sincerity Ben has hardly heard since he’d arrived in the 21st century. He gestures to the chair in front of his desk. Ben nods and takes a seat. Fury sits next to him.

“It’s about the Avengers Initiative,” Ben says, setting his hands on his lap. “I know that Caleb Brewster is on the list of people considered. I imagine Eliza will be one of them if she accepts your offer.”

“It’s been considered,” Fury says. “Do you have a problem with either of those appointments?”

“Not at all. I would consider it great foolishness not to utilize two such incredibly skilled people in what I think you are trying to do with the Initiative,” Ben says. “I’m here to put my name forward for it as well.”

“Your name,” Fury repeats.

“He thinks it’s a stupid idea,” Rogers says at Ben’s side. “Who’d want you for something so important?”

“Yes, my name,” Ben says. 

“Major, I’m not sure you’re suited-”

“I’m more suited than either of them,” Ben interrupts. “Caleb is a soldier, yes, but he has spent almost his whole life working alone, and he has never led men. Eliza is absolutely brilliant and can read people like you and I read books. She hasn’t been put in a position of power. I have commanded men, I’ve spent years as America’s head of intelligence. I know what I am doing in this field. The basics of the game haven’t changed that much.” Fury nods.

“I’ll give you that,” he says. “But these people you’d be commanding aren’t soldiers. They’re highly individual, very unstable people. They aren’t trained to be soldiers; they’re spies, they’re scientists, they’re geniuses without senses of consequence or discipline. You think Brewster is hard to deal with professionally? Try a herd of antisocial, traumatized people who think they’re smarter than you.”

“You hear that, Tallmadge? You’re not up to that, and he knows it,” Rogers says.

“Try convincing George Washington he’s wrong sometime,” Ben answers. “I handled a traumatized farmer thrust into espionage who changed his mind weekly, a tavernkeeper who would have loved nothing more than to bury his head in the sand, a woman who seemed to attract every British officer in a ten-mile radius, a freed slave in the heart of British intelligence, Caleb, and my wife. I can handle quite a bit, Director.” Fury smirks and settles back in his chair.

“A former slave, huh?” he says. Ben becomes utterly aware of the fact he’s talking to a black man and is thrown slightly off balance. “I always wondered about 355. Men are stupid, but they’re not stupid enough to talk that freely in front of their lady friends.”

“I’ve found that to be true, sir,” Ben says, returning the smirk.

“How’d you get 355?” Fury asks. “Whose slave was she?”

“Abigail was in service to the Strong family before she was freed by British officers and made to work for Major John Andre against her will,” Ben says. “She made a deal with Anna Strong, another member of the Ring, that Mrs. Strong would watch over Abigail’s son, who was left behind on Long Island, in exchange for information about Andre’s dealings.”

“Hmm,” Fury says. “Washington was all right with that?”

“As soon as her information was verified, absolutely,” Ben says. Fury nods.

“Tell you what, Major,” he says. “I’m gonna have some of my people whip up some scenarios. We’ll have you look them over, see how you do with responses to them. Then we’ll talk. How’s that sound?” 

“That sounds quite fair,” Ben says. “Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you, Major Tallmadge.” Fury stands and holds out his hand to Ben again. Ben follows him up. They shake hands once more. For the first time since he got to this time, Ben feels he has purpose.


	9. Caleb Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time jump! We also get to meet Thor and his friends, which was so much fun to write.

3 weeks later

It’s the middle of August. Caleb is hunting demons and sweating like a sinner in church while he does. His enchanted, fireproof coat isn’t exactly breathable material. Not that the demons care- they’re still coming in the same numbers as they had been a month ago, keeping Caleb very busy. 

The lack of Hammonds in their lives has done him some good. T.J. and Anne are the only ones they see. T.J. is still working on his club opening and has been sober for almost two months now. Anne has been dropping by with baby things as an excuse to talk to Eliza and Ben. 

Ben is doing much better after recovering from the day he spent with Bud and the boys. Caleb got most of the story from T.J. later, and he can understand why Ben was so exhausted after. He’s also very glad he’d insisted on Nat learning the basics of swimming; he was not risking another Delaware incident.

Eliza is just a month away from her due date. This baby seems bigger than Nat was, and she’s far more exhausted than when she had Nat. It also doesn’t help that it’s the height of summer and Eliza is taking it harder than the rest of them. Caleb makes a few jokes about Ben being hotter and bigger than Chris Johnson. They are not well-received. 

Nat is fine. He’s getting ready for preschool in the fall. They’ve been talking about the new baby coming, and he seems to understand what they’re saying, but he keeps looking at the stuff for the baby with a strange expression on his face. They can’t get him to say what he’s thinking on the matter, but Nat doesn’t seem too upset, so they kinda just have to let it go. 

And then things go a little wonky.

*

“No,” Caleb grunts. He pulls his knife out of a reddish hued demon and shakes off the blood. The corpse falls to the ground and vanishes. “Fucking thank you.”

“It’s really more of your thing,” Phil says over the phone. “Definitely mystical. Possibly extraterrestrial. That’s new and exciting for you, isn’t it?”

“What’s new and exciting is the baby my girl is having within the next couple weeks!” Caleb replies. He puts the knife away and reaches for his bag of sage. Sprinkling it on the bloodstains, Caleb shifts the phone against his ear. “I am not going to New Mexico!”

“I’m not really asking you, Brewster,” Phil says. “Do you want to be responsible for an alien invasion taking over the planet?”

“No,” Caleb says with a sigh. “Fine, but I have to take care of some things here first. My witchy friend is having a small demon infestation.”

“Again?” Phil says. 

“Phil, unless you want to take over protecting-the-witch duty, you don’t complain,” Caleb says. “When are we leaving?”

*

“Where the hell is New Mexico?” Ben asks when Caleb stops by his office to tell him the news.

“West of here and east of the Pacific Ocean. Have Eliza show you a map when you get home,” Caleb says. “Point is, I have to go hold the hands of people who don’t know how to deal with supernatural shit and make sure aliens don’t invade the Earth. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

“When you say aliens,” Ben says slowly. “Do you mean like Star Trek aliens?”

“Yes. If they’re Vulcans, I’ll bring one home with me, just for you,” Caleb says. “I doubt it’s going to be aliens, though. My money’s on a portal to Hell or an idiot with a weather balloon. Perhaps both.”

*

When they get to New Mexico, SHIELD’s first order of business is to confiscate some poor scientists’ research.

“Aw, come on, Phil,” Caleb says as they watch Phil’s guys cart piles of equipment into big black vans. “You really have to take all their stuff? That’s so not cool.”

“They’re the only ones who could have accurately recorded what was going on here,” Phil answers. “We need that data.”

“But you could just ask.” Caleb spots an Ipod dangling precariously from a carton as an agent walks towards them. He takes the Ipod from the box. “Even the music machines? Come on, Philliam.”

“Barton’s already used that one,” Phil says. “And digital information can be hidden anywhere, Brewster. It’s the 21st century.”

“Jesus fucking Christ. I had no idea,” Caleb says, playing with the wires of the Ipod. “Is that why there’s flying cars and colonies on the moon now? Where’s my jetpack?”

“It’s in development,” Phil replies. Then the scientists return. Phil goes over to calm down the angry little one with murder in her eyes. The slightly taller woman behind her starts looking around in a panic for something small. Caleb wanders over out of Phil’s eyeline to where she is.

“Psst.” He gets the woman’s attention. She turns and he holds up the Ipod. Her face lights up. “I never did this.” Caleb pushes the device into her hand and walks away. 

*

Barton shows up shortly after SHIELD steals all of Foster and Selvig’s equipment and hauls it back to a portable lab. He greets Caleb by throwing a protein bar at his head in one of the plastic-walled hallways.

“Hey, dude, your wife says you need to eat,” Barton says as Caleb turns around. 

“What are you doing talking to my wife?” Caleb says. “She’s not technically my wife.”

“One, she called me after bullying my number out of Fury, and two, she says she’s your wife,” Barton replies. “Wanna go see the freaky hammer?”

“I was on my way there,” Caleb says. He bends down and grabs the protein bar that had bounced off his head. “Did my wife tell you to throw this or was that your own prerogative?”

“That was my own interpretation of her orders,” Barton says. “Also, I am entirely curious as to why I’m following orders from your wife. You’d think I’d be better than that.”

“Barton, if you’re taking orders from her without question, you’re smarter than the average man,” Caleb says. “Let’s go see a freaky hammer.”

They head through the maze of temporary hallways. Eventually, when the protein bar had been fully eaten and complained about, they reach the gaping open air space where the freaky hammer is embedded in the hard soil. Caleb takes one look at the crater and swears.

“Whoa. I speak twelve languages and I didn’t understand that,” Barton says. “What are we breaking out the old-timey swears for?”

“We have a rogue god on our hands,” Caleb says. 

“And this is bad,” Barton says. Caleb turns to him. 

“The last time a god decided it was play time on Earth, we had the Spanish flu epidemic,” Caleb says. “So yeah, it’s bad. Let’s go find Phil and tell him the bad news.”

*

“I don’t understand,” Phil says. They’re standing in the new base of operations in the portable lab, where Phil is overseeing a bunch of unimportant people. Caleb is trying to explain what he needs to do without naming the god. Naming the god is always where people get into trouble.

“It’s a hammer,” Caleb says slowly. “It’s a hammer nobody can lift. So we need to look for large John Does with a lot of hair and a beard.”

“I don’t understand how this follows,” Phil says. He looks pretty neutral, but he has the glint in his eye that Caleb knows means he’s losing patience.

“It’s a god,” Barton pipes up.

“Yes. And I can’t tell you his name, because that leaves us at a disadvantage, so you just have to bear with me, buddy,” Caleb says. Phil heaves a sigh. 

“Sitwell, run a search for large hairy John Does at the local hospitals and homeless shelters,” he says, turning to the array of equipment. 

“Sir, there’s only one hospital in the area and no homeless shelter,” Sitwell says. 

“Then check that hospital,” Phil says. There’s the slightest hint of impatience in his voice and Sitwell turns to his computers quickly. Phil looks at Caleb and Barton. 

“Don’t you two have magical signals to be looking for or something?”

“Dude, that’s so not-”

“Yeah, sure. Come on, Barton.” Caleb grabs Barton by the arm and drags him away from Phil before the poor guy has an aneurysm.

*

“There’s good news and bad news. Good news is we found your John Doe’s entry to the hospital,” Sitwell says ten minutes later over the radio. Caleb and Barton are hanging out by the trucks. “Bad news is he seems to have fought his way out of the hospital and nobody knows where he went.”

“Great,” Caleb groans. “Let us know if the police pick him up and put out an APB.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Do you want to die via lightning? Coz that’s what happens if you don’t listen to me,” Caleb says. 

“Yes, sir,” Sitwell says. Barton laughs as the radio goes quiet. 

“Man, you and Tasha will get along great,” he says. 

“I thought Romanoff didn’t work the Weird Shit Division,” Caleb says.

“Nah, she’s on the Initiative,” Barton answers.

“Oh, right, the Initiative,” Caleb says. He folds his arms over his chest. “When’s that happening?”

“When there’s absolutely no other option but us,” Barton says. “So the end of the world, probably.”

“Great,” Caleb says. “I like the sound of this plan. You, me, and Romanoff against the Apocalypse.”

“And Tallmadge,” Barton says. Caleb pauses, then turns to face Barton.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” he says as sweetly as he can. Barton shrugs.

“I dunno. There’s a Tallmadge on the roster now,” he says. “B Tallmadge. Tasha’s been looking into it.”

“What the fuck. I’m going to kill him,” Caleb says. “Eliza’s gonna kill him, but I’m gonna kill him next.” 

“You know this guy?” Barton says. 

“Yes. I’m gonna kill him before you meet him, though,” Caleb says. “God damn it. I’m calling my wife!”

*

Caleb does not get to call Eliza. Someone breaks into the lab and starts bulldozing their way through the place. Barton gets called for air support, but Caleb goes to the security area. He watches the guy barrel past highly trained men like they’re training dummies. Caleb has no doubt in his mind who this is.  
The guy gets to the hammer. He stands over it in a triumphant stance. Caleb waits as he wraps his hands around the hammer. Now they’re in for it, Caleb thinks. 

But the guy can’t lift it. 

He tries for a while. Then he falls to his knees with mournful yell. Caleb sucks in a breath. 

“Oh, boy,” he says. “This just keeps getting better and better.”

*

They drag the guy to an interrogation room. Phil goes first, with very little success. He gets maybe two words out of the guy. Then Caleb decides to intervene.

“Hey-o,” he says, coming into the room. Phil is visibly irritated for a half-second. 

“Agent Brewster, I haven’t finished-”

“Yes, you have,” Caleb says. “I’ve got this. Do you mind stepping out?” He holds the door open. Phil briefly considers murder, Caleb can tell, but he does step out. Caleb shuts the door behind Phil. 

“Evenin,” he says to the guy in the chair, a friendly smile on his face. “You mind if I sit?” The guy doesn’t respond. He just sits there with a mopey expression on his face, like someone killed his cat. Caleb pulls over a chair and sits directly across from the guy.

“So,” Caleb says, clapping his hands on his thighs. “You should have been able to lift that hammer. It’s pretty clear you thought you could, and frankly I thought you should have. Did the Allfather curse you or something?” The guy looks up, finally interested. “Yeah, I know who you are. Pegged it the minute I saw Mjolnir. What are you doing here, big guy?” The guy sits up in his chair.

“I was banished, by my father, Odin,” he says, voice raw. “I had been arrogant. I provoked conflict with the Frost Giants. I was stripped of my rights and powers, and he sent me to this realm.” 

“Mhm.” Caleb nods. “That’s rough, buddy. What’s happening with Mjolnir? Why can’t you lift it?”

“It was gifted to me by the Allfather, but he took it from me when he banished me. I tried to-” The guy puts his head in his hands. “I tried to lift it. I could not.”

“Well, I’m no expert on Asgardian law, but if my memory serves, you have to be worthy to lift the hammer,” Caleb says, crossing his arms over his chest. The guy lifts his head and Caleb lifts a brow. “What have you done to be worthy lately?”

“Yes,” the guy says hoarsely. “I have been unworthy of Mjolnir’s power. I used it for selfish reasons. I am unworthy.”

“Whoa, hey now,” Caleb says quickly. He leans forward. “You may not be worthy now, but you can change. We all grow and change. It’s a part of life. We can all become worthy of the things we want. That’s important to know.” He uncrosses his arms and reaches out to pat the guy’s knee. The guy takes his hand. 

“Your kindness and wisdom are gifts I have not earned,” the guy says. “Tell me, friend, what is your name?”

“Caleb Brewster,” Caleb says. 

“Good Brewster, Thor Odinson is in your debt,” the guy says. So much for Asgardians subscribing to true name magic. Caleb pats Thor’s hand. His hand brushes Thor’s thigh and leaves a little sticky blob on Thor’s jeans. It looks like nothing but a patch of dried mud or forgotten food to the untrained eye, but it actually houses a small microphone.

“That’s all right, buddy. I’ve got your back. I know what it’s like to be on your own,” he says. “Us weirdos gotta stick together.”

*

Caleb leaves Thor to join Phil in the observation room. Phil’s lip is twitching and not in a happy way.

“So,” Phil says. “You think he’s Thor. The god of thunder.”

“No, I know he’s Thor, the god of thunder,” Caleb says. “Evidence all points to it.” Phil’s eyelid flickers. 

“You realize I’m going to have a very hard time putting that in a report,” he says. 

“Welcome to my world,” Caleb says. “I once had to convince Fury that I lost a requisitioned car in a portal to Hell. You can tell him about Thor, Philmore.”

“Barton’s done that one too,” Phil says. “Why do I have the feeling this is going to be my life now?”

“I think you’ve been unofficially inducted into the Weird Shit Division,” Caleb says. “We’re really growing. I should make jackets.”

“Jackets?” Barton appears from thin air to stand next to Caleb. “I want a jacket. Let’s make them purple.”

“I like the way you think,” Caleb says, pointing to Barton.

“I should have never introduced you two,” Phil declares. Caleb and Barton give him identical shit-eating grins. “Barton, get out.”

*

Someone comes to pick Thor up, but Caleb is a little busy. He has earbuds in, attached to the receiver for that microphone he stuck on Thor. 

“Brewster.” Brewster comes over while Caleb’s listening. “Dr. Selvig is claiming we have Donald-”

“Shh.” Caleb holds up a finger. “Loki’s telling Thor their father is dead.”

“What,” Phil says flatly. Caleb hands over an earbud and Phil puts it in his ear.

“-the peace with the Frost Giants is dependent on your banishment,” the smooth voice says. Phil raises his brow at Caleb.

“We’re not getting this on our mikes,” he says. 

“Your mikes aren’t calibrated for astral projections,” Caleb answers. “How much do you wanna bet he’s lying?”

“Loki is the god of deception,” Phil says.

“Now you’re catching on,” Caleb says, poking Phil in the chest. “I’ll talk to Thor about Selvig. Possibly Loki. We’ll see.”

*

Thor wants to go with Selvig. He agrees to keep in touch with Caleb, who he insists on calling ‘Good Brewster.’ Caleb doesn’t say anything about Loki, only because he doesn’t know which part Loki’s lying about, having not been keeping up with interstellar politics lately. 

After Thor leaves, Caleb and Barton start talking about Asgardian monsters and myths. Phil kicks them out of the command room and tells them to get some sleep. 

*

“How pissed do you think Thor would be if you picked up his hammer?” Barton asks on the way to the dorm. 

“I can’t pick up the hammer,” Caleb says.

“Have you tried?” Barton says. 

“No,” Caleb says, scoffing. “I’m not that stupid.”

“Then how do you know you can’t pick it up?” Barton challenges. Caleb shrugs.

“I basically sold my soul for a chance to see the loves of my life and our kid again. That’s pretty selfish,” he says. “Not exactly worthy material.”

“Yeah, but you dedicated your life to fighting evil,” Barton says. 

“No, you dedicated your life to fighting evil. I just like hitting things,” Caleb says. “Maybe you could lift it.”

“Yeah, but I’m a piece of shit,” Barton says. Caleb turns to him. 

“What? No. You’re great,” Caleb says. “I mean, you’re a pain in the ass sometimes, but I like that about you.”

“Aw, thanks, man,” Barton says. “That means a lot to me.” He doesn’t seem convinced by that, and Caleb tries to remember what Ben always says to make people feel better.

“Seriously, I’m glad you’re on my team,” Caleb says. He holds out his arms. Screw words. “Come here, Barton.”

“Dude, are you serious?” Barton says. Caleb starts coming closer. Barton shrugs. “All right. I like hugs.”


	10. Caleb Four

Caleb knows he’s gotten to Phil when he wakes up the nest morning. He knows this when Phil uses an airhorn to wake Caleb and Barton up. It’s amazing and annoying at the same time. 

*

Someone calls in a bunch of strangely dressed people right around the same time someone calls in a giant patch of scorched earth. Phil sends Caleb to the former while he goes to the latter.

Caleb heads over to the makeshift lab in the former car dealership. He sees four strangers going in to meet Thor, which explains the armor. Caleb goes right in after them.

“Morning!” Caleb calls as he enters. Thor spots him and hurries over, smiling like the sun.

“Friend Brewster! You must meet my friends!” he says. “These are my comrades in arms, Sif and the Warriors Three. Sif, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, this is Caleb Brewster, the wisest man in all of Midgard.”

“Hey!” Dr. Foster says, looking annoyed. 

“Oh, yes, and you must meet Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis, my most honorable Midgardian friends,” Thor says. Caleb nods.

“Nice to meet you all.”

“Hey, Ipod guy!” Lewis says. “I like this guy. He’s a good SHIELD guy.”

“You’re SHIELD?” Foster says, suspicion clear in her face. 

“Reluctantly,” Caleb says. “I’m in charge of the weird shit. Like aliens who are also gods.” He gestures to the assorted Asgardians. 

“Cool,” Lewis says, beaming.

“You have a very strange aura,” Hogun says, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

*

It turns out that not only was Loki lying, but he also sent a giant magic robot after Thor to be sure no one stopped Loki’s plans. The robot is not discriminatory in its destruction, and the first thing Caleb has to do is evacuate civilians from the town. Then he joins the melee.

His BFW doesn’t make a dent in the robot’s armor, despite it being a Big Fucking Weapon. Caleb shoves that aside and reaches for his THE grenades. He pulls the pin out of it before tossing it at the robot. The explosion takes a huge chunk out of the robot’s torso, eliciting whoops from the Warriors Three. The robot turns its head to Caleb. He watches the metal reform and he gulps.

“Shite.” Fire builds in the robot’s hollow face. Caleb guards his face just before the wall of heat can hit him.

“NO!” Caleb hears someone scream as the fire hits him. The heat is intense, and he can feel his beard start to burn. But he’s still standing there. His hat and coat are uncharred, but his pants are singed. He lowers his arms and looks back up at the robot.

“Is that all you got?” he says, like he didn’t just survive a dragon-like spurt of fiery death. “All right, you big metal bastard. Let’s fucking go!”

*

Caleb does not, before the fight is over, figure out a way to kill the robot. He’s having a serious talk with Diomara about this. 

Thankfully, Thor proves himself worthy of Mjolnir’s power in a very dramatic fashion. Caleb will admit he was quite swayed by the whole thing. Then Thor takes his god friends and fucks off back to Asgard. 

SHIELD arrives to do clean up. Caleb’s about to go talk to Phil when someone throws their arms around him with surprising force.

“What the-”

“Thank you for trying to fight the big scary robot,” Darcy Lewis says. “You were really brave and I appreciate that.” Caleb wrestles out an arm and pats her on the shoulder. 

“Thank you, darling. I don’t usually get gratitudes,” he says. “You take good care of yourself, all right? And those scientist friends of yours. The brainy types are terrible at that. I got a few at home.”

“You take care of yourself too. No more diving into fires,” Darcy says. She lets go of him and stands back, putting her hands on her hips. “I find out you did that again, I’ll hack my way to your family’s names and tell them what you did. Wife, husband, siblings, parents, I’ll find ‘em and tell ‘em.” Caleb laughs.

“I like you,” he says. “Here.” Caleb fishes in his pockets and pulls out a business card. “You take this. Anything weird happens- ghosts, monsters, aliens- you give me a call. You want a job fighting these things, you give me a call. I’ll try and talk you out of it, but give me a call anyway.” Darcy takes the card.

“Thanks, Agent Ipod,” she says. 

“No problem, Miss Animal Rescuer,” Caleb replies. “I’ve got to get back to work. Hang in there.” Darcy salutes with the card and walks off. Caleb heads over to Phil.

“Wow. Looks like you’ve got a fan,” Phil says drily.

“Are you jealous?” Caleb replies.

“Not in the slightest,” Phil says. “She’s a persistent nuisance. Hacking servers, ID fraud, social media crusader.”

“Eh, I like her even more now. Maybe I will hire her off Foster and Selvig,” Caleb says. “I’ve got to go home.”

“We have to do clean up-”

“Pregnant wife. Due any day now. Plus, apparently, my husband is now on the Avengers Initiative, which I need to look into,” Caleb says. 

“I have no knowledge of that,” Phil says.

“You fucking liar,” Caleb says. “Look, send me all the paperwork you want. Just let me go home, dammit.” 

“Fine. Go ahead,” Phil says. “You did face off against a giant fire breathing magic robot.” Caleb throws his hands in the air.

“Yes! Thank you!” 

*

Caleb finally gets home and the sun is setting on D.C. T.J. is just leaving the house. He spots Caleb and he breaks into a huge grin.

“Hey, man, where you been?” T.J. grabs Caleb by the arm and pulls him into a hug. “I was looking for you!”

“Yeah, I had to fly out to New Mexico for a thing. How you doing, T?” Caleb asks. He pulls back and looks at T.J.’s eyes to find them clear of redness. 

“I’m amazing! The club opening’s tomorrow and it’s going to be great!” T.J. says. “Eliza said you’d probably want to stay home, so I won’t ask you to be there if you don’t want-”

“If you really want me there, I can be there,” Caleb says. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ve got nothing to prove to you,” T.J. says. “I already know you believe in me. It’s everyone who doesn’t live in this house I gotta worry about.”

“All right, but you tell me all about it the next day,” Caleb says. “You’re important to me, you little shite.” T.J. laughs.

“I know. Thanks, Caleb,” he says. “I’ve gotta go. See you later.” He starts walking off.

“See you later, ya big business man,” Caleb calls after T.J. The younger man laughs on his way to the car. Caleb goes to the front door. 

“That had better be you, Caleb!” Eliza shouts from the living room.

“It is me!” Caleb yells back.

“I told you it would work eventually, Ben!” Eliza says as Caleb comes into the living room. Ben, cleaning up Nat’s toys on the floor, rolls his eyes.

“You’ve been doing that every time the door opens. That’s not a strategy, it’s ridiculous!” he says.

“Tomato, tomahto,” Eliza replies, sitting on the couch. “Caleb, you’re sunburned.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t the sun, actually.” Caleb walks over and sits next to her. He puts an arm around her shoulders. “It was a giant fire-breathing robot, but that’s not too important right now.”

“It’s only not important if the robot is gone,” Eliza says. Ben sits on his thighs, a confused expression on his face.

“Robots are…”

“Machines that can do tasks. Like breathe fire and commit fratricide,” Caleb says to Ben. “But it’s gone now. We can talk about the more pressing issue of your name being on the Avengers Initiative, you little shite.” Ben winces.

“Whose name is on what?” Eliza says, sitting up straighter. “Ben, what the fuck?”

“I know it seems a bit foolish, but hear me out,” Ben says, holding out a hand. “Caleb’s name’s already on the Initiative. Your name’s going to be on it the second you accept Fury’s offer. I couldn’t sit idly by while you two risk your lives. I want to be with you-”

“Ben, I’m functionally immortal,” Caleb says. “It is wildly unlikely anything can kill me without first killing Diomara.”

“And I haven’t agreed to being on the Initiative yet,” Eliza adds. “If I had, while you and Caleb are both on it, who takes care of the kids? If we all go out and get ourselves killed, what happens to Nat and the baby? Custody goes to my parents? One of my brothers?”

“I didn’t think of that,” Ben admits, standing up. “I was thinking of you two.” 

“As much as we love how much you care about us, each of us should be thinking of the kids first, before anything else,” Eliza says. “We’re parents, that’s our most important job.”

“I know. And there is nothing I love more, no responsibility I’ve cherished more, than being Nat’s father, I just-” Ben sighs. “Sometimes I feel so useless. All I ever do is copy pages and take care of things at home, which is very important, but you two do so much more. I feel like I hardly do anything.”

“That’s not true!” Eliza and Caleb say together. Ben gives them a suspect look. 

“Ben, you have no idea how important you’ve been to my brothers,” Eliza continues. “You remember how T.J. reacted when you told him you were glad to have him. He adores you, and Douglas seems so much healthier now that you’re friends.”

“And you keep us sane,” Caleb says. “How many times have Eliza and I gotten into yelling matches over something and you solved it? How often do you remind us to eat or help us out when we’re not thinking straight?” 

“Not to mention that you’re an incredible father to Nat all the time, despite having to deal with an entirely strange world,” Eliza says. She sits up and holds her hand out to Ben. He sighs but he takes it, twining his fingers with hers. He stands up, never breaking the hold, and sits on the other side of her.

“Those are all fair points,” Ben admits. “But I feel as though I can contribute to this Initiative. I want to do something to defend the people of this nation like I did before. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Caleb says. “But it’s really fucking dangerous, Tallboy.”

“And we have to think about the kids,” Eliza says. “If we’re all going to be involved with this thing, one of us is going to have to take a backseat on every mission, just to be sure one of us comes home.”

“Again, I’m immortal, but I like the idea of one of you staying back each time,” Caleb says. Eliza and Ben shove Caleb. “What?”

“You’re such a jerk,” Eliza says. “Just because you can’t die doesn’t mean you should go into dangerous situations.”

“Also you could die if something happened to Diomara,” Ben says. “You should be a little careful.”

“I am care- all right, I could stand to be a little more careful,” Caleb amends, thinking of the fire-breathing robot. “We’ll all be careful, how’s about that? And no more of this secrets crap.”


	11. Ben Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we get to the Cap movie! This chapter and the next were so much fun to write, I hope you guys have fun reading it!

Ben doesn’t go upstairs with Caleb when his husband goes to shower off sand and giant firebreathing robot (how one showers the latter off is somewhat of a mystery, but Ben doesn’t ask). He doesn’t go up when Eliza declares she’s going to bed and heads upstairs. 

He stays in the living room, organizing Nat’s toys again. Then Ben goes around the first floor, gathering up all the books they’ve been leaving about and bringing them back to the shelves in the living room and the study. There’s a system, see, and they have to stick to it. Fiction books and Nat’s books go in the living room bookcase, non-fiction go in the study. This is because Ben picked up one of Eliza’s historical fiction novels and started asking her how the alien invasion affected the Normandy landing, and Eliza almost burst a vein trying not to laugh at him. So it’s very important to Ben that the books go in the right places. All the while he’s doing this, Rogers is keeping up a running commentary.

“Did you really think joining that Initiative was going to prove anything?” he tells Ben. “All you’ve done is convince them you’re irresponsible. You’re ungrateful for the family you’ve got, you’re a gloryhound.”

“Shut up,” Ben mutters, shelving the books in the study. He focuses on the books: most of them are for his benefit, covering the history he’d missed. Some had been Eliza’s from her schooldays, and those tend to focus on women and other minority groups, but they’re quite fascinating to him all the same.

“And now you’ve got them soothing your pride, telling you that you’re not a useless little librarian,” Rogers continues. “But you and I both know that’s not true, don’t we, Tallboy?”

“Don’t call me that!” Ben hisses. He can just see Rogers cackling out of the corner of his eye. A growing part of him wants to throw a book at Rogers’ silhouette, but he doubts the helpfulness of such an action. 

“Useless little Benny. Can’t do anything right, can you?” Rogers says. “You’re not even a good librarian- those books aren’t alphabetized!” Ben looks at the books to find they’re mostly in chronological order, which he prefers, but he’s messed up the 1890s and the 1980s again. 

“Goddamnit,” Ben snaps at the shelves. 

“What’d those books ever do to you?” Ben whirls to find Caleb in the doorway, rubbing at an eye. “It’s nearly midnight, Ben. What are you still doing up?”

“Just…cleaning,” Ben says, feeling somewhat helpless with a book in each hand. “I’ve fucked up the order again.”

“You can fix it tomorrow when you get back from work,” Caleb says. “You’ve got to get up in the morning, Tallboy.”

“Fucking up again,” Rogers sings in Ben’s ear.

“I don’t have work. They told me I should start my ‘paternity leave’ since Eliza’s due next week,” Ben says.

“All the more reason you can play with the books tomorrow.” Caleb comes over and takes the books from Ben’s hands. He tosses them on the desk nearby, making Ben wince. Caleb takes Ben’s hands in his and looks up into Ben’s eyes.

“I hope I didn’t make you feel too bad about the SHIELD thing,” he says. “I know you’re a soldier. It’s in your blood. I’m just really, really scared of losing you again. I can’t bear the idea, especially now I’ve gotten used to having you again.” Some of the tension in Ben’s shoulders seems to leave him like an exhale. 

“Caleb, I didn’t think of that,” he admits, twining his fingers in Caleb’s. 

“I know,” Caleb says. “You don’t think of things like that until they happen, or they almost do. I don’t ever want you to think of things like that, so I’m not going to be upset you joined the Initiative to be with me and Eliza.” He kisses Ben’s fingertips. The knot that had been building in Ben’s gut all night melts. Caleb looks back up with twinkling eyes. “Sides, now we can piss off Fury together, which will be way more fun than pissing him off by myself.” Ben has to laugh at that. His head dips down to Caleb’s and Caleb lets out a small chuckle. “Now, let’s go and enjoy being able to sleep the whole night. Soon enough there’ll be a tiny little screamer preventing that for a while.”

“Hey, that’s something to look forward to,” Ben says, still smiling. 

“So you keep saying. I remember baby Nat in camp, that was not at all something I want to repeat,” Caleb says. Ben laughs again. “Come on, off to bed.” Caleb lets go of one hand so he can pat Ben’s face. “Upstairs with us.” He leads Ben upstairs. Rogers is still whispering in Ben’s ear, telling him it’s all an act, all to keep him pliant, but it’s easier to ignore him with Caleb’s hand in his.

*

Ben wakes the next morning between his spouses. He’s not sure why he’s awake at first, but then Caleb’s ringtone starts wailing from his left side.

“Caleb,” Eliza growls from Ben’s right.

“I got it, I got it,” Caleb grumbles. Ben feels Caleb pull his arm from under Ben’s and roll over. The wailing stops.

“Phil, I said I’d do the fucking paperwork, leave me a-” Caleb stops as someone barks through the phone. “Oh, hey, Eliot. Why are you calling me at buttfucking early?”

“Language,” Ben mutters, rolling to bury his face in Eliza’s neck.

“Eliot, I just got back from fighting aliens in New Mexico, can’t this wait- ah, I hate you.” Caleb hangs up and puts the phone down. He settles back next to Ben with a sigh.

“Yeah, Eliot and his partners are coming over in an hour,” Caleb says.

“There had better be a damn good reason,” Eliza replies. 

“He says there is. Eliot doesn’t usually come to me with news, he can hardly be bothered to call me most of the time,” Caleb says. “Don’t like to think about what this means.”

“Daaa-deee,” a voice calls from the doorway. There’s a collective sigh. 

“Good morning, Nat,” Ben replies. “Come join us for a while.” Padding feet make their way over and Nat climbs up onto the bed. He squirrels himself between Ben and Caleb. 

“What are we doing today?” Nat asks, grabbing onto Ben’s shirt with one hand. Ben reaches up to take his hand.

“We’re having Uncle Caleb’s friends over, apparently,” he says.

“Do we need to have breakfast for them?” Eliza says. “I do not want to cook.”

“Eliot’s bringing food. He said,” Caleb says. “Should probably all have pants, though.”

“Not happening,” Eliza answers. “The rest of you can wear pants, I’m wearing a dress. And I’m not getting up yet.”

“We don’t have to yet,” Ben says, stroking Nat’s hand with his thumb. His other hand rests near Eliza’s neck, close enough to feel her warmth. Caleb rolls over and his arm rests on Ben’s hip.

“Yeah, I’m really keen on not getting up,” he agrees. Nat squirms a little, his shoulder jabbing Ben for a second. 

“It’s warm,” he says, settling. “Like it.” 

*

They do all drag themselves out of bed before Eliot shows up. Caleb and Eliza make somewhat of an effort to clean up the kitchen while Ben gets Nat dressed. Rogers hasn’t showed up yet, and Ben savors every moment without him. 

Ben brings Nat downstairs just in time for the front door to be hammered with an insistent fist. Somebody growls on the other side of the door as Ben comes over to answer it.

On the other side of the door are three people: a tall man who looks like Jordan Strong, a thin blonde woman with a troubling smile, and a dangerous-looking man with longish hair. They all have grocery bags.

“You must be Ben,” the dangerous man says. “I’m Eliot. That’s Parker and that’s Alec.”

“Nice to meet you. Come in, please,” Ben says. He steps aside to let them in. Each set of eyes assesses the space as they enter, but they don’t feel the same. 

“Nice to meechu!” Nat echoes merrily. All three visitors turn to him with smiles.

“Very nice to meet you too, Nat,” Alec says. “Do you like berries? My man Eliot makes a mean crepe.”

“What’s a crepe?” Nat asks. 

“Fancy pancakes,” Parker says. Nat claps in excitement and Parker’s eyes glitter. “I know! Let’s get him to the kitchen!”

“Eliot, you ancient POS!” Caleb comes out of the kitchen. “Get your decrepit ass over here and tell me what’s so goddamn important!”

“Language!” Ben and Eliza say together. There’s several snickers as Eliot ignores them to head into the kitchen.

“Have you swept for bugs recently?” he asks. The others follow him, Ben bringing up the rear and Nat. Grocery bags are set on the kitchen table and Alec parks himself at the table. Caleb trails Eliot to the stovetop.

“I did it just the other day, you paranoid bas- bastion of paranoia,” Caleb finishes lamely as Eliza glares at him from the table. “Why does it matter?”

“Coz we might have gotten something from your employers that they don’t want anyone to know, and we don’t want them to know we know,” Alec says. Eliot starts unpacking grocery bags. 

“I see. And why are you bringing it to me?” Caleb says, not looking mollified in the least. Ben sits next to Eliza, across from Alec. He starts putting Nat into the booster seat, but Nat fights him and Ben lets Nat stay in his lap.

“Technically, we’re bringing it to all of you,” Parker says. Somehow she managed to get herself up onto the counter without drawing anyone’s attention. Alec and Eliot look at her and sigh.

“Really?” Eliza says, arching a brow. “Why?”

“Because I don’t trust SHIELD on this one,” Eliot says, turning back to the work at hand. He starts pulling out bowls and utensils. “Alec, tell them.”

“You guys know about The Odyssey Project?” Alec asks. They all shake their heads. “Okay, how about The Valkyrie, the plane?” 

“Hydraplane,” Nat says. The adults turn to look at him and he hides his face in Ben’s shirt.

“The Valkyrie is the name of the plane in one of his cartoons, the Captain America one,” Ben says. “Red Skull flies it, I think.”

“Oh, yeah, that was the plane Steve Rogers flew into the Arctic Circle,” Eliza says. “I thought it sounded familiar. I studied Peggy Carter more than Captain America, though.”

“Wait, Captain America was a real person?” Ben says. “I thought he was just in the cartoons!”

“Captain America’s the codename for Captain Steve Rogers, who you read about in the Howlies book,” Caleb says. Ben nods.

“Stupid boy,” an unwelcome voice whispers in his ear. Ben fights the urge to grimace.

“You’re not talking about that Valkyrie, are you?” Eliza says. Alec nods. “SHIELD’s been looking for The Valkyrie?”

“They found The Valkyrie,” Alec says. He pulls out a tablet and starts tapping. “The Odyssey Project was started in ’45 by Howard Stark, and it’s been more or less ongoing since then.”

“They must’ve mapped nearly all of the Arctic Circle by now!” Eliza says, brows going up. “No wonder they found it! When did they dig it out?”

“They started last week,” Alec says. “Two days ago, they found out that what they thought was the corpse of Steve Rogers was actually the hibernating body of Steve Rogers, and now there’s a big kerfuffle over that.”

“Hell on a spoon,” Caleb says in a hushed voice. “The man’s alive? After seventy years in the ice?”

“Jesus,” Eliza says in a similar tone. Ben can hardly imagine such a thing, but it seems horrific. He holds Nat a little tighter.

“What are they planning to do with him?” he asks. 

“That’s the problem,” Parker says, looking grim. “It looks like they plan on keeping him as some kind of pet- they want to run tests and use him on their mission and stuff. Nobody else really knows about him, so no one can intervene-”

“And the last time we stole someone from SHIELD they almost nuked us, so we really can’t pull off another one of those cons again for a while,” Alec finishes. “We weren’t exactly picking daisies in SHIELD’s information relays, but we weren’t looking for this there, and SHIELD doesn’t know we got back into their relays. Last thing we need is them coming after us again.”

“Which is why we called you,” Eliot says, whisking more violently than Ben would have thought possible. “You’ve got to step in.”

“If you’re not supposed to know about it, I really doubt we are either,” Eliza says. “And even if we could side-step that issue, has it escaped your notice that we’re having a baby very soon? Like, before the month is out soon?”

“No, it has not,” Eliot says pointedly. “Which is why we’re here, talking to you, rather than letting Parker dump him on your doorstep like a newspaper.” He sends Parker a look and she shrugs.

“Cap needs someone to step in with Fury and make sure he doesn’t spend the rest of his life as SHIELD’s attack dog,” Alec says quickly. “We’re not asking you to adopt the guy, just one of you talk to Fury about treating the guy like a person.”

“We could do that,” Ben says. “I mean, I haven’t got work for a bit. I could go see Fury and talk to him about how I can help the Captain- until the baby’s here, at least, or when she’s a bit older. Who’d know better than someone who’s lost time how to help someone who’s lost time?” 

“Eloquent,” Rogers says drily. The others in the room look thoughtful.

“He’s got a point,” Caleb muses. “Not to mention Fury’s got to stay in Ben’s good graces, if not all ours.”

“And I suppose Cap wouldn’t be the worst person to have around with the baby and Nat, though that’s dependent on his mental state,” Eliza says. “Is Cap defrosted?”

“Not yet. It’s gonna be finished sometime today,” Alec says. “Does this mean you guys are on it?”

“I think it does,” Eliza says. “

“Any ideas on how we’re going to spin how we know about this?” Caleb says. “Fury shouldn’t know we got it from these three.”

“You could use that archer friend of yours,” Eliza says.

“If Barton knows about it- hey, you know what, I could use Phil,” Caleb says, a mischievous light in his eyes. “Phil is a history nerd in the extreme. If he knows about it, I’m gonna hear it about it.”

“You talking about Coulson?” Alec says with a laugh. “Yeah, he’s a history nut. He had a fanboy freakout when he met your boy over there-” He gestures to Ben, who tries not to look flattered. “-no doubt he’ll have one over Cap. Parker says Coulson’s got a drawerful of Cap comics.”

“He does!” Parker says, smiling wickedly. “And Cap shirts, and Cap boxers, and-” 

“Enough, Parker,” Eliot snaps.

“I’m still having trouble thinking the man in Nat’s cartoons is an actual person,” Ben says, recalling the scenes he’d seen yesterday. “He punched a tank.”

“That’s creative license,” Caleb says. “If they ever made a cartoon of our adventures, they’d probably add in a ton more bombs and Nat would have been born in the middle of a firefight or something.”

“Oh, God, don’t even joke,” Eliza says with a shiver. “It wasn’t fun in a safe place.”

“Did she break your hand?” Eliot asks Ben. Ben shakes his head.

“I did learn some new swears,” he answers. “It was very…educational.” Ben is trying to be oblique, but everyone laughs anyway. 

“This time, I’m getting drugs,” Eliza says, crossing her arms over her belly. “I want to be numb from the waist down. Childbirth sucks.”

“Yeah, I’m never doing that,” Parker says. She shivers. “We are only doing fosters and adoptions.”

“We were doing that- I thought we were doing fosters and adoptions because we were fosters!” Alec says.

“We are! I just also never want to grow a person inside me, it looks terrible,” Parker says. 

“It’s not entirely awful,” Eliza says. “I like parts of it, but definitely not the last part.”

*

Eliot cooks them all crepes, which are delightfully delicious. Nat refuses to eat them with a fork, preferring to get all the stickiness all over his hands. He then wipes his hands on his shirt and Caleb has to take him up to change his shirt. 

Ben walks Alec into the living room and basically orders him to brief Ben on everything to do with Captain Steve Rogers. Alec grumbles something about needing Nate for this, but he sets up a truly spectacular briefing through the television. 

“Okay, so Captain Steve Rogers was born in 1918, which makes him about only 93, compared to your 258 years young,” Alec starts. A map appears on the television, a map Ben recognizes. “He grew up in Brooklyn, New York-”

“I know Brooklyn! It’s at the edge of Long Island, I’ve been there,” Ben says. “It’s a part of the York City, now, isn’t it?”

“It is a part of New York City, good call, Ben,” Alec says. “Brooklyn in the early twentieth century was an interesting place, especially where our boy Cap was growing up.” The map tightens on the Brooklyn area, sharpening the streets. “He lived in the poor Irish neighborhoods, which were next to the poor black, Italian, Jewish, all the ethnic minorities neighborhoods. It was also where the not-hetero community tended to be-”

“I’m sorry, the not-what community?” Ben interrupts. 

“You know, the not straight people,” Alec says. Ben raises a brow. Alec sighs. “The queer people? You know what those are?”

“Oh, people like us,” Ben says. 

“Took you long enough, Tallmadge,” Rogers says. Ben swears Rogers is standing right beside Alec. 

“Yeah, people like you and me, people who like to dress as a different gender, you know, that stuff. This was all in Brooklyn,” Alec says, drawing a circle with his hand over the map. “Cap’s daddy died fighting in World War One before poor Cap was born. Cap’s momma was a nurse, and she raised Cap all by herself until she died of tuberculosis when he was about twenty.”

“Poor boy,” Ben says, crossing his arms. 

“Cap then moved in with his main man James Buchanan Barnes, known to his pals as Bucky,” Alec continues. A video takes the place of the map. A man in Captain America’s uniform and a man in rougher, more martial clothing stand next to each other, laughing. Captain Steve Rogers looks nothing like his cartoon counterpart, his features far less stony and his proportions not so laughable. The man beside him bears a striking similarity to T.J. “That’s the two of ’em right there. You know, you look kinda like Cap.”

“I don’t see it,” Ben says. Alec looks back and forth between the two.

“No, no, you do. It’s kinda weird, actually,” he says. Ben crosses his arms tighter.

“Can we get back to the-”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Anyway, Bucky was Cap’s right hand dude. They stuck together through the Great Depression- you covered that, right, the Great Depression?”

“Yes, Eliza explained the stock market and the credit crisis,” Ben answers. 

“Right. These two dudes lived together, kept each other alive- mostly Bucky keeping Cap alive, because he was a sickly little guy,” Alec says. 

“Was he? He looks quite strapping here,” Ben says. 

“Oh, shit, I forgot the thing.” Alec starts tapping on his tablet and a photograph appears. This photograph is of the same man from the Captain America uniform, but he’s much smaller. Barely skin and bones, this version of the man is hardly recognizable. If it weren’t for the same piercing eyes, Ben wouldn’t have known it was the same man. 

“This was Steve Rogers before they made him big and muscly,” Alec says. “He was five foot four and weighed ninety-five pounds when his clothes were wet. Adorable, ain’t he?”

“He’s certainly…small,” Ben says. “And how did they make him big and muscly?”

“Abraham Erskine.” The photo slides to the side and two more photos appear- an older man with a beard and a large metal contraption. “See, little Stevie wanted to fight in the war with everybody else, defend his country from bullies, but he was a sickly little dude, like I said before. He kept getting medically rejected from the Army. Then Dr. Erskine comes along and says, ‘hey, I’m working on this Super-Soldier Serum to make the perfect soldier, and I think you’re the dude for it.’ Everybody said, ‘what? This little guy? You trippin.’ But Erskine insisted, and using this big, scary looking machine and his magic serum, he turned little Stevie into Captain America.” The photographs fade into a picture of Captain America lifting a motorcycle with women on it in the air. Ben raises his brow.

“Okay. Sounds…somewhat legitimate,” he says. “Why did Erskine pick Steve Rogers? Surely if the Serum could turn a tiny, unhealthy person into a big strong man, wouldn’t using it on a big strong man work better?”

“See, that’s where most people get hung up,” Alec says, holding up a finger. “Erskine’s Serum wasn’t just about taking a man and making him stronger. That’s what the Army thought it was about, they wanted him to use some big lunk who followed orders, but Erskine told them it wasn’t like that. The Serum, according to him, took whatever was in a person and amplified it. Johann Schmidt, the big bad Cap faced off against, he had the serum too.”

“Right, that’s in the cartoons,” Ben says with a nod. “Schmidt had the serum and it amplified his lust for power and his… dream of a nobler race, was it? Caleb said he wanted to make a bunch of demi-gods.”

“Correctamundo, Ben. That is exactly what Schmidt wanted and what the serum did to him,” Alec says. “Erskine picked Steve Rogers for the same reason.”

“Because he wanted to protect people from bullies, not kill anyone,” Ben finishes. “He’s a good man.” He looks at the screen, at the face of the man holding up the motorcycle. Captain Steve Rogers looks a little pained through the showman’s smile- not physical pain, but the pain of someone who’s wasting their life on something they never wanted. 

*

The others migrate in to join them. Eliza sits beside Ben on the couch, Eliot takes the armchair, Parker sits on the arm of the armchair. Caleb comes back with Nat and they sit on the other end of the couch together. 

“When Capin America throws his my-ey shieeeelllddd,” Nat sings under his breath as Alec speaks. 

“That is his theme song,” Alec says, pausing in his recounting of the train fiasco. “They started making the cartoon in the eighties, so I watched it as a kid too.”

“So did I,” Eliza says. “It’s not…nuanced.” She says it kindly, so not to bother Nat, but the distaste is evident. 

“I would agree with that,” Alec says. 

“It’s heavily influenced by the conservative media’s depiction of Cap as a ‘good ol boy’ who punches brown and yellow people while preaching conservative values,” Eliot says, almost bitter. “They turned Barnes into a kid so it wouldn’t look homoerotic and turned Peggy Carter into a dimwitted damsel.”

“Just up Limbaugh’s alley, then,” Caleb says, flicking some of Nat’s hair. 

“This isn’t important,” Ben says. “The cartoon doesn’t have anything to do with the man being defrosted.”

“It does when people find out he’s back,” Eliza says, nudging him with her foot. “He’s not like you, Ben. He was a very public figure, and in the day of social media, it won’t take too long for people to recognize him.” 

“Yeah, he was important,” Rogers says. Ben’s hands clench. “People know who he is. Nobody knows you.”

“All right, it will be important, but it isn’t when we first meet him,” Ben says, trying to ignore Rogers. “The Captain’s been gone 70 years. Is there anyone alive from his past?”

“Yeah, hang on. Uh…” Alec starts tapping. “We got Peggy Carter, she’s in a nursing home, Jim Morita, a couple of the Barnes sisters- hey, did you know Eliza’s daddy is Bucky’s nephew? Small world.”

“That explains the resemblance between him and T.J.,” Ben says. He works his hands some more. This isn’t going to be easy- he had Eliza and Caleb to help him through, but Steve Rogers will only have strangers. 

“Are you okay?” Parker asks. Eliza nudges Ben again and he looks at Parker to see she’s addressing him. 

“What?” Ben says. 

“You seem…off,” Parker says. “Like you want to kill a bear but there’s no bear.” 

“I’m fine,” Ben says, rather than address the strange analogy. “I’m concerned about Rogers.”

“Are you really, boy?” Rogers cackles in his ear. Ben bites back a ‘not you,’ wishing the Captain had a different surname.


	12. Ben Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning for a sort of anxiety attack when Steve wakes up.

Alec, Parker, and Eliot leave them with pages of notes on Captain America and a pile of crepes. Ben sits in the living room with Nat in his lap, the boy watching the Captain America cartoon while Ben goes over the notes. He can hear Caleb and Eliza whispering in the kitchen, and he knows it’s about him. Ben does his best not to think about that. He focuses on Steven Grant Rogers and how best to help him. 

“You can’t help him,” Robert Rogers says. “You can’t even help yourself- even now, those two are discussing what to do about you, how you’re a nuisance. Stupid Tallmadge. Useless Tallmadge. Nuisance Tallmadge-”

“Dad-deee,” Nat sings, cutting off Rogers. Ben looks down to see Nat’s face pointed up at him. 

“Yes, Nat?” Ben says. 

“Are you really gonna see Captain America?” Nat asks. 

“I think so. Why do you ask?” Ben says. Nat rests the top of his head on Ben’s sternum.

“Coz I drew him some pictures. You can give him them,” he says simply. “Can you, Daddy?”

“Of course, Nat. Why don’t you go get them? I think I’m going to go soon,” Ben says. Nat swings himself forward, sliding out of Ben’s lap. He sways a little when he stands up, and Ben catches him by the arm to keep him steady. Nat giggles.

“Silly,” he says. “Right back, Daddy!” Nat runs to his box of artwork at the bottom of the bookshelf. Ben gets up and goes into the kitchen. When he enters, Caleb and Eliza stop talking.

“I’m going to head over to the Triskelion,” Ben says. “I figure approaching Fury directly is best.”

“You want to drive yourself?” Eliza says. “You’ve got the permit, but one of us could go with you-”

“I can do it,” Ben interrupts. “I’ve driven myself a few times, I can drive to the Triskelion.”

“You should take my car,” Caleb says. “It’s got the proper id stuff, and you’re registered to that car for SHIELD.”

“Great. Any last pieces of advice?” Ben asks. 

“Don’t give him any more information that you have to,” Eliza says.

“Don’t let him tell you no,” Caleb says. “And call with updates!”

“I got ’em!” Nat hurries in with some pages of colorful paper. He holds them up eagerly. Ben takes them and puts them in with the folder of notes.

“Thank you, Nat. I’m sure he’ll appreciate them,” Ben says. “I’ll see you later, all right?” He bends down and kisses Nat’s head. “Love you.”

“Love you Daddy!” Nat puts a sloppy kiss on Ben’s chin. Ben stands up and goes to the table. 

“See you later, love you.” He kisses both Eliza and Caleb’s cheeks, moving too quickly for them to return the gesture.

“Love you-” Ben’s already going for the door. He hears Caleb mutter something foul, but Ben refuses to wait for a conversation. He can do something, something actually important, for once. Nothing is going to stop him from doing it.

*

Ben misses horses.

He can drive a car, though the first few lessons were scary. He just…doesn’t particularly like it. Horses were far easier to maneuver and control. They smelled worse, but cars have their own bad smells that Ben could live without. Yet everyone seems to like the cars, so he learned to use a car. 

Ben arrives at the Triskelion and an agent is waiting for him in the parking garage. 

“I’m here to see Director Fury,” Ben says when he gets out of the car. The agent nods.

“He’s waiting for you in his office, sir,” she says. Ben raises a brow. “This way, sir.” 

The agent leads Ben through the building. The last time he’d been there, he’d been hurried through unpopulated corridors and saw almost no one. This time, Ben sees plenty of people, and almost all of them afford him a second glance. The agent taking him to Fury’s office is taking her time too, so they have the opportunity to get a good look. Ben wears his best officer expression and nods to greet the onlooking passers. He hopes he’s making a good impression.

“Major Tallmadge.” Coulson appears in front of them, flanked by two people in uniforms. One is a redheaded woman a little taller than Eliza, the other a man about the same height as Coulson with a bow on his back. “Good to see you. We could really use your help right now.”

“Yes, I understand the Director is waiting to see me,” Ben says, sweat starting to bead on the back of his neck. He came here for the Captain- is something else, something bigger going on?

“He’ll brief you. I’ll be in my office for the next hour or so after that, if you have any questions,” Coulson says. “Let’s go.” He gestures to the two behind him and they start walking past Ben and his guide. The redhead studies him some more as she passes, but Ben doesn’t feel as though it’s the complimentary kind of stare.  
Finally, they get to Fury’s office. The agent waits outside as Ben enters. Fury is standing over his desk with some files. He looks up at Ben.

“Major. So glad you could make it.” Fury comes around his desk, holding out his hand. Ben takes it.

“I’m here about Captain Steven Grant Rogers,” Ben says. “I know you’ve found him-”

“I know you know,” Fury interrupts. “I figured as much when you came over after Leverage decided to drop in on your place.” Ben sighs. “It’s all right- Eliot Spencer’s got no reason to trust us, and frankly you’ve probably got better plans for Rogers than anyone else.”

“Well, I do have some ideas, yes,” Ben says. “I was expecting you to put up more of a fight with me.”

“Major, having you handle this is probably the best thing that’s happened to me all week,” Fury says, with the exhaustion of a man who has dealt with too much. “I had a Norse god in New Mexico, Tony Stark going batshit in Malibu, the Hulk trashing Harlem, and this ship being found in the Arctic. I need a strong drink with a little umbrella in it being handed to me while I sit in a beach chair. If you wanna handle Cap, I am gonna let you handle Cap.” Ben nods.

“I…am sorry you’ve had such a tumultuous week. I’ll do what I can to make it a little easier,” he says. “Where is the Captain?”

“We’ve got him in a facility in New York. You mind taking a short flight?” Fury says. Ben pauses, thinking of Eliza and the baby. “It’s an hour flight. If something happens back here, say, your wife going into labor, you’ll be only an hour away.”

“All right. But I’ll have to let my family know I’m going,” Ben says. “When can we leave?” 

“Five minutes,” Fury says. “I’ll call upstairs, let them know you’re coming. You let your spouses know.” Fury goes to his desk to pick up his phone. Ben takes out the cell phone he carries and dials.

“Ben? How’s it going?” Eliza says, a nervous edge in her voice.

“It’s going smoothly. Fury’s okayed me handling Captain Rogers, and I’ve got to fly up to New York to do that,” Ben says. “He says it’s only an hour flight, so if anything were to happen-”

“You’d be back in an hour,” Eliza finishes. “All right. Be careful. We love you.”

“I love you all too. Tell Caleb I think I’ve met his friend Barton, or at least seen him,” Ben says. “It was more of a passing thing.” Eliza laughs. 

“I will. He’s currently keeping T.J. from bouncing off the walls, but I’ll tell him,” she says. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Ben hangs up at the same time Fury does. The two men look at each other.

“So, Major,” Fury says, a grin starting to form on his face. “You ever ridden in a helicopter before?” Ben grimaces. 

“I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?”

*

Ben, surprisingly, does not hate the helicopter. It’s loud and incredibly unsettling at first, but once they’re up in the air, Ben’s floored by the view. He’s never seen anything like it, the stretching city beneath his feet and the endless yawning green between the towns. Ben has to laugh in wonder at this sight. It’s incredible.

The flight is quite short, and they quickly arrive in New York City. If Ben thought D.C. was amazing from the air, New York is even more awesome. The city’s gridlines create a lattice of lights and rooftops. It’s so beautiful. Ben takes a picture on his phone to show Nat later. Fury looks surprised at Ben’s easy use of the phone, and Ben feels a small spark of victory at that surprise.

The helicopter lands on a building near what Ben recognizes as Times Square (he’s never been himself, but he’s seen photographs). Fury and Ben begin taking off their restraints as the blades above stop spinning.

“Congratulations on your first flight!” Fury says over the lowering noise. “You took that better than I expected!”

“It was amazing!” Ben replies. “Do you do this all the time?”

“I prefer planes, but yeah!” Fury says, cracking a grin. “Come on, let’s go meet the Captain!”

“Let’s go see you fuck this up!” Rogers adds. Ben rolls his eyes and follows Fury out of the helicopter.

*

“Now we’ve got Rogers in a room designed to look like it was out of the forties,” Fury says as he leads Ben through the place. This walk is not leisurely and Ben has almost no time to take in the rooms they pass. He’s starting to get the hang of this whole pacing thing, though. “We had an analyst do some research-”

“An analyst?” Ben repeats. “Some research? Director, tell me truly, did you have someone google ‘forties hospital room’ and hope that’d work?”

“We had a little more input than that, I hope,” Fury says, taken slightly aback. “You’re not in favor of it?”

“Putting him in a half-assed attempt at a forties hospital room would be akin to putting me in the Williamsburg reenactment,” Ben says. “If he’s as bright as I’ve heard, he’ll know in about sixty seconds that it’s not right. He’ll probably think he’s been taken by Nazis or something.”

“Hmm. I suppose we’ll find out if he’s that bright, then,” Fury says. Ben’s surprise has him stop for a pace or two, but then he catches up with Fury.

“You’re testing him!” Ben accuses. “The man’s waking from a seventy year coma and you’re testing him before he’s even opened his eyes!” 

“Why shouldn’t I?” Fury replies. “Steven Rogers is one of the most physically powerful men to ever exist; I wanna know who I’m dealing with before I have to use him.”   
Ben shakes his head- Caleb was right. Fury is an utter bastard, but he is a pragmatic one. Fury and Sackett would have gotten on like a house on fire.

“Fine. But when he barrels his way through the place and breaks all your special equipment I’m not supposed to be noticing, don’t complain to me,” Ben says. Fury smirks.

“Yeah, you and I are gonna get along just fine, Major,” he says. “After the doctors check him out, how do you feel about talking to Cap? I think you’d be the best fit.”

“Why should he listen to you?” Rogers says to Ben. “You’re nobody. You’re a scribe who can barely take care of himself.”

“I would think so too,” Ben says. 

“Do you want a uniform?” Fury asks. 

“I’m sorry?” Ben says. 

“A military uniform. We could get you a modern uniform befitting your rank,” Fury says. Ben pauses.

“Do you think he’d respond better to that than what I’m wearing?” he says. Fury shrugs.

“Depends. If he’s smart, he’ll see you’re a military man regardless of what you’re wearing,” he says. “Up to you.”

“Well, if we’re going to do this ridiculous exercise, we might as well have the uniform,” Ben says. Fury nods. 

“You got it. I’ll have someone get one for you,” he says. They stop in front of a door and Fury heads inside. It looks to be some kind of observation room, with lots of screens and information readouts. Ben’s seen this kind of room on the restoration levels of the Smithsonian. The image that grabs his attention is the video of the hospital room with Captain America lying in the bed. The room is completely empty save for him, and Ben swears he’s never seen anything sadder.

“How much time do we have?” Fury asks. 

“About an hour, sir,” one of the technicians says. He looks at Ben. “Uh, sir, who is this?”

“This is Major Tallmadge, he’s going to be in charge of Captain Rogers’ reintroduction to the world,” Fury says. “Have someone go over to the Army Base and get him the proper uniform before our hour’s up. I want him looking professional.”

“Yes, sir.” The technician turns to someone else. 

“Director, might I join Captain Rogers while we’re waiting?” Ben says. 

“Don’t see why not. Somebody escort the Major to the Captain’s room, please,” Fury says. Another technician gets up.

“This way, sir.” She leads Ben out of the room and down the hall. The hospital room is hardly far from the observation room, and there’s barely time for Robert Rogers to tell Ben once again that he’s not qualified and he’s going to fuck up before they enter a large space with some kind of large box in the middle.

“What the hell is this?” Ben says. 

“This is where we built the room, sir,” the technician says. “We couldn’t use a modern one without considerable retrofitting. Is there a problem?”

“Not yet, but I imagine there will be when we take the Captain out of it,” Ben says, thinking of the effect of one’s first sight in a new world being a sham. “Carry on, then.” The technician takes him up the false room.

“Here you are,” the technician says outside the door. “Will you be needing anything, sir?”

“I don’t think so, thank you,” Ben says. She nods and leaves him there. Ben takes the doorknob in his hand.

“It’s your last chance to run, Tallboy,” Robert Rogers says. Ben grits his teeth and goes into the room. 

Everything feels off. Even the air in the place seems contrived. It might be that Ben knows the whole thing was put together in a matter of hours without any respect to its historical context, but he hates it all the same. There’s a radio playing, some sort of sports game while noises of street traffic come from the window, which is a fake window, and Ben wants to stab whoever came up with these. Instead, he takes a chair from by the window and brings it to the bedside. Ben sits and takes a good look at Steve Rogers. 

The man lying in the bed is very, very large. Bud and Douglas are taller, but neither have the shoulder span. Ben’s put in mind of the legends of Adonis and Apollo, the Greek’s supposed pinnacles of male beauty. Steve Rogers looks very much like the modern ideal man, rippling with muscle and physical power. He is handsome as well, even under the less-than-great lights. 

“Goodness, he’s a big thing,” Robert Rogers says. “He could snap you in half.”

“Poor man,” Ben says rather than respond to his personal demon. Despite his intimidating size, Steve Rogers is at the mercy of whoever happens upon him in this state, and he would only be marginally less helpless when he woke. It fills Ben with pity- then it fills him with rage. 

Ben stands. He goes up to the radio and fiddles with the switches until it stops making noise. Then he moves to the counter of medical supplies next to the window. Ben finds a pitcher of water and two glasses. Ben takes one glass and brings it over to the bedside table. He takes out his phone, opening the music feature and looking for the ‘Calming’ playlist T.J. had helped him make. Once he has it queued up, Ben sets the phone in the glass so the music is amplified. 

“When you were young and on your own, how did it feel to be alone?” the phone croons. It just drowns out the fake traffic sounds, and it brings a different ambience to the room. Ben sits back down. He looks at Steve Rogers, still asleep.

“I’m so sorry,” Ben says. “This is going to be so hard for you. I hope I can make it easier for you, but it’s going to be terrible.” Steve Rogers has no response.

*

Ben gets the uniform forty minutes into the hour he’s supposedly got before Captain Rogers wakes up. A man in a similar uniform helps him put it on; he addresses Ben with the utmost respect and explains the badges on it. All of them are technically ones Ben’s earned, if they didn’t exactly exist when he served. 

The uniform itself is more comfortable than Ben would have expected. The fabric is stiff but not itchy or starchy. The dark green-grey uniform lends Ben an air of authority Ben hasn’t felt since he arrived in this time. It also fits very well. Fury comes in as the other soldier leaves and he nods in approval. 

“You look good, Major,” Fury says. “The hair’s a little long, but other than that, you’re perfect.”

“My hair’s great,” Ben says, fingering the end of his braid. “This is what military men wore in my day.”

“Captain Rogers will spot you a mile away,” Robert Rogers says. “He’ll know you’re not a real military man in a second. You’ll muck this up.”

“You’ve got about twenty minutes before Cap’s up, so if you want anything else before he comes to, now’s the time to ask,” Fury says. Ben shakes his head.

“I think we’re all right,” he says. “You’ll have some big, strapping men out there in case the Captain decides to…freak out when he wakes up, right? My wife won’t be happy if he breaks me.”

“We’ll have some guys out there. Try not to piss him off,” Fury suggests. Ben rolls his eyes. 

“Thanks.”

*

Captain Rogers wakes up as Ben’s pouring them both glasses of water (he found another in the cabinet). Ben turns around to see the man pushing himself up to sit. 

“Where am I?” the Captain asks, voice hoarse.

“New York City,” Ben says. He comes over with the glasses, holding one out to the Captain. “We found you in the ice and brought you here for medical care. Would you like a drink?” The Captain eyes Ben before taking it. 

“Who are you?” he asks. 

“Major Benjamin Tallmadge,” Ben says. The Captain nods. 

“You don’t sound German,” he says. He takes a sip of the water. Ben nods and takes his seat again. 

“Not at all,” he says. “Your last mission was a success, Captain. Hydra was mostly destroyed by that final assault, and the rest were snuffed out in short order. The Nazis fell not long after.”

“Geez.” The Captain sets his glass down. “How long was I under?” Ben steels himself. 

“A very long time,” he says. “It’s been seventy years, Captain.” The Captain freezes, staring at Ben in horror. Ben remembers that feeling. “Breathe, Captain. This is a very big shock, I know.”

“You’re lying,” the Captain says. “I don’t believe you. You’re trying to trick me- where is that music coming from?” Ben reaches over to the bedside table where the phone is. He picks it up out of the glass and stops the music. 

“This is a smartphone,” Ben says. “Here.” He hands the phone to the Captain. The younger man starts swiping through the phone with wide eyes. 

“Oh my God,” he says, voice soft and raw. His breathing becomes shallow. Ben puts a hand on the Captain’s arm. 

“Breathe,” Ben says again. “In…and out.” The Captain follows the order without thinking. He sets the phone down on his thigh. “In…and out. That’s it.” 

“How- why-”

“I know this is hard to hear,” Ben says. “I’ve been here myself. Just keep breathing.”

“I had a date,” the Captain says. “Peggy- Agent Carter- is she-”

“She’s still alive,” Ben answers. The Captain relaxes. “She’s in her nineties now, but she’s still alive.” The Captain tenses up again.

“Oh, God. They’re all dead. So many of them. They’re dead. Oh, God-”

“Captain,” Ben says in his Major voice. “You are going to make yourself sick. Look at me.” The Captain does, blue eyes wide and panicked. “Breathe in…and breathe out.” The Captain inhales and exhales with Ben for a while, the two of them just breathing until the Captain calms down. 

“There you are,” Ben says. “Now let’s try again. It’s the year 2012. You were frozen for a very long time, and yes, most of the people you knew before are no longer with us. But you are not alone, all right? I’m here with you, Captain.”

“Steve,” the Captain says. “Please, call me Steve.”

“You got it, Steve,” Ben says. “I’m Ben Tallmadge.”

“Right, right. You said that,” Steve says. “You’re- you’re a Major?”

“Yes. The 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, 2nd Legionary Corps,” Ben says. Steve raises a brow and Ben smirks. “I was in a similar boat to you about four months ago, only I wasn’t frozen so much as transported.”

“Uh-huh,” Steve says. “So you’re from the Revolutionary War. That’s…a big jump.”

“I’m still adjusting myself, but I can answer most of your questions,” Ben says. “It’s a process. We all react differently- I personally got so ill I was hospitalized, which I do not recommend at all.” Steve lets out a small laugh at that. “It’s going to be all right. You will be all right. Just keep breathing, and we’ll get through this.”

“You think so?” Steve says, looking up at Ben. For a moment, Ben is looking at Samuel, the brother he’d lost to Robert Rogers’ machinations, who he’d mourned so deeply he couldn’t even consider naming his son Samuel for the fear he’d only ever see his brother in the child. Ben draws in a deep breath.

“I know so,” he says.

“Liar,” Robert Rogers says. “You’re not all right, and he won’t be either. You’re both fucked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In short:  
> Fury and Ben bond a little
> 
> Ben is very bi
> 
> Ben and Steve are going to be total bros by the end of this fic


	13. Eliza Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Caleb is domestic, Douglas is useful for once, and Ben's not the first Revolutionary Steve Rogers met...

Eliza decides that she is never getting pregnant again after this kid when she’s seven months in. At eight months, she’s very ready for this to be over. Eliza loves her baby girl already, but damn it, she really hates being pregnant. 

The nursery is pretty much set up, thanks to the combined efforts of T.J., Anne, and Ben. Eliza has creative veto, but she can’t really do much as her due date gets closer. It’s very cute- Anne corralled Ben into helping her paint a mural of the seaside on one wall. Nat loved it so much they end up painting one in his room too. T.J. used the ocean theme for the rest of the décor: dark wood furniture that reminds Caleb of his sailing days, aquatic animals on the mobile, sheets printed with sailboats. It’s sweet, and all three parents like it. Let’s hope the baby does too.

*

Ben flies out to New York and leaves the rest of the family to worry over him. Not because of the flying, though Eliza is a bit worried about his reaction to that, but literally everything else Ben has going on is concerning. 

“I don’t like this,” Eliza says. She’s folding laundry on their bed while Caleb does paperwork on a tablet beside her. Nat is on the floor, making his Captain America doll have a birthday party with his dinosaurs and some chunky dolls. 

“I don’t either,” Caleb says. “First Tallboy’s feeling all sorts of insecure about his place here, then Fury snaps him up like fresh meat. Next Cap’s come back and Fury’s perfectly okay with Ben a) knowing about the guy and b) talking to the guy. Feels awful contrived.”

“We all knew Fury was manipulating us, but I’m more worried about Ben,” Eliza says, tossing a shirt onto Nat’s pile. “I knew he’d been feeling off, but I assumed it was the adjustment blues. I think it’s bigger than that.” Caleb sighs and puts his tablet down.

“Me too,” he says. “Last night, when I went to go bring him to bed, I thought I heard him talking to himself, and he sounded angry. He’d mixed up his chronological shelving again too.”

“There’s no chance he was angry about that?” Eliza says. She folds up some of Ben’s socks. “I mean, he’s so much of a perfectionist. He gets mad at himself for the littlest mistake.”

“It wasn’t like that. It was more as though he was already upset and the books were the latest thing,” Caleb says. “I don’t know. He’s been weird since that fishing trip when he went off on your dad, and I don’t understand it.”

“I don’t either,” Eliza says. “And he won’t talk about it.”

“Ben’s never been one to talk about these things,” Caleb says. “You remember how he was after his father died.”

“Yeah, but we all knew what the problem was then,” Eliza says. She picks up one of Caleb’s shirts and wrinkles her nose. “What the hell happened to this?”

“Er, it’s best if you don’t know.” Caleb takes the discolored shirt and tosses it on the floor. “I’ll burn that later. Anyway, we could try to talk to Ben about this, but I doubt he’ll tell, especially with the baby coming.”

“All the more reason he should tell us,” Eliza says. “We’re about to have a ton of new responsibilities and stress, we need to have it together before she comes. We cleared the air before Nat came-”

“To be fair, Liza Love, that whole thing was more you being secretive than someone having an emotional problem,” Caleb interrupts. Eliza rolls her eyes. 

“There’s the pot calling his wife the kettle black,” she says. Caleb chuckles. “The dryer should be done. Go rotate the laundry and I’ll help you with the triplicate.”

“God, you are the perfect woman,” Caleb says. He gets up and grabs the shirt he needs to burn. “Hey, bug, you want to come help with the laundry for your Ma?”

“Yep!” Nat drops the dinosaurs and hurries after Caleb. They both head out as Eliza laughs. If they can just figure out Ben’s problem, she thinks, things will be perfect. 

“Let’s do the Time Warp again!” Eliza’s phone starts ringing next to her pile of clothes. Eliza reaches forward, which is a lot easier said than done, to grab it.

“Eliza Tallmadge,” she says. 

“Hey,” Chris Johnson says on the other end. “Can we talk?”

*

“AND YOU CAN GO FLY INTO THE SUN, YOU WITLESS FUCKING COCKSPLAT. DON’T TALK TO US, DON’T TOUCH US, DON’T COME NEAR US, DON’T BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS US, DON’T BREATHE AT ALL!” 

“Eliza!” Caleb comes back into the room, aghast. “Bloody Nora, who are you talking to?” Eliza hangs up and throws the phone across the room. 

“That weaselheaded- arse-faced- tallowcatch!” Eliza fumes. “How dare he- how fucking dare he!”

“Eliza, calm down. You’re scaring Nat,” Caleb says. Eliza takes as deep a breath as she can manage. 

“Right. Right,” she says. “Sorry. I just-” Eliza growls. “God. I can’t believe he did that!”

“Who did what?” Caleb comes in with the laundry basket, Nat trailing after him. 

“Chris Johnson,” Eliza says, and Caleb’s shoulders go stiff. “He called saying he wants partial custody. How he even found out-”

“He knew,” Caleb interrupts, putting the laundry basket on the bed near Eliza. “He must have known, he was asking Ben at the party last month.”

“If he knew then, why demand custody now?” Eliza says. Nat comes up beside her and she starts rubbing his shoulder absently. “What’s changed?”

“I don’t know, but I’m definitely going to find out,” Caleb says. He climbs onto the bed to sit next to her again. Caleb grabs his phone. “I’ll call my friends at SHIELD and see if they know anything. Is there any chance your friends could help?” 

“I don’t have a lot of friends in politics or law. Most of them went into teaching or the arts,” Eliza says. “I’d risk Douglas for this. He’d be more pissed at Chris than anything, and he could handle if it went public.”

“Did Johnson threaten you with that?” Caleb says, texting. 

“He implied he’d come out of a public scandal looking better than we do,” Eliza says. “God, Caleb, why did he have to-” She stops as a familiar pain goes through her. Caleb looks up.

“You all right, Liza Love?” he says. 

“Yeah, yeah. Just a twinge,” Eliza says as the pain fades. “I’m fine. I’m going to finish with the laundry, then I’ll see if I can talk to Douglas about this.” She reaches into the basket. “Here, Nat, Mama’s gonna show you how to fold.”

*

Douglas comes over several hours later, looking harried. Eliza has only had one contraction in the meantime, so she figures that can wait. Caleb’s been calling in some favors from his SHIELD friends, but most of them are swamped with Iron Man, Thor, or Hulk related stuff. Eliza decides she’s going to prepare some frozen dinners for when the baby comes.

“What’s going on?” Douglas asks as he comes into the kitchen. Nat runs over and Douglas leans down to catch him. “Hey, Nat.” 

“Hi, Douglas. I got a really disturbing phone call today,” Eliza says. She finishes pouring out the sauce and puts the jar down. “I was hoping you’d be willing to help me.”

“Of course, Liza. Who called?” Douglas says, carrying Nat over to the counter. Eliza picks up the tin foil.

“The…the biological contributor,” she says, pulling out the foil. Douglas’ brow furrows as she measures it over the pan.

“The biological contributor to…oh!” Douglas glances at the boy in his arms. “Oh, God! What did he want?”

“Partial custody,” Eliza says. She smooths the edges of the foil over the pan. “He accused me of running away to keep him from figuring out he’d…contributed, and I had been wrongfully keeping him from what’s his. He also implied that if he leaked it to the Press, he would come out looking better than I would.”

“Like hell he will!” Douglas snaps. “What’s his name? I’ll bury that bas-” Eliza gives him a look and he catches himself. “That bad man.”

“Chris Johnson,” Eliza answers in the calmest voice she’s got. Douglas blinks.

“You slept with-” He looks at Nat, who looks back, quite unaware of what’s going on as he bites into some cheese he stole off the counter. “Oh my God. Seriously?”

“It was Mom’s idea,” Eliza says quickly. “She pushed me at him. And he sucked, by the way, worst I’ve ever had-”

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough,” Douglas interrupts. “I didn’t need any of those mental images. Does Ben know this is going on?”

“No, he’s in New York,” Eliza says. 

“Why the hell is he- never mind. Does Caleb know?” Douglas asks. 

“He’s in the study, trying to see if he can talk some of his SHIELD friends into ruining Johnson’s life or career, which several of them would do if they weren’t busy, apparently,” Eliza says. “I just don’t want Johnson near us. I don’t think he’s good for Nat and I don’t trust his motives.”

“I wish I could say he’s really a good guy once you get to know him, but he’s really not,” Douglas says, huffing. “God, of all the friends Mom could have set you up with, she had to pick Chris. This is nearly as bad as Sean Reeves.”

“Who’s Sean Reeves?” Eliza says, lifting a brow. Douglas looks at her.

“Nobody told you?” he says. “He’s a Republican Congressman. He had an affair with T.J. last year, until the Democrats found out. They threatened to out him, so he broke it off with T.J. right before T.J. tried to…you know.”

“Hell on a spoon,” Eliza says. “No one told me about that part! That can’t have helped anything.”

“It definitely did not,” Douglas says. “Seriously, though, I am going to end Chris if he tries anything. You can count on that. Nat’s ours.” He fusses with Nat’s hair. Nat decides to kiss Douglas’ cheek in response. Douglas doesn’t really know what to do with that and Eliza smiles at his confusion. At least that’s going well.

“Watch out for T.J. tonight, won’t you?” Eliza says. “This means so much to him. I think he’ll be good at this.”

“Of course. It’s what we do,” Douglas says. “I think it’s going to be fine.”

*

Ben calls shortly after Douglas leaves with an urgent call from Anne. Caleb comes out of the study with his tablet held out in front of him. 

“Hey, Liza Love, it’s Tallboy,” he says, coming into the kitchen. “She’s been cooking all afternoon. Nesting instinct is kicking in again. Here.” Caleb turns the tablet around so Eliza can see Ben. Ben waves.

“Hey.”

“Hey. How’s it going with Cap?” Eliza asks. She narrows her eyes. “What are you wearing? That looks like a military uniform.”

“Oh, yeah, it is,” Ben says, pulling at his collar. “Fury thought it might make Steve feel a bit more at ease. Technically I’ve earned it all, so.”

“Do you get to keep it? It looks good,” Eliza says. Ben coughs, cheeks flushing. 

“Eh, Fury said I might get to keep it, for SHIELD-related things,” he says. “How are things at home? Do you need me to come back?”

“Umm.” Caleb and Eliza look at each other. Ben’s brow furrows.

“What’s happening?” he says. 

“We got wind that the other contributor to Nat’s DNA might want partial custody,” Caleb says. Ben’s face goes slack. “It’s not going to happen. I’ve got my people on it and Eliza’s got Douglas on it. Frankly, I’ll go over and shoot the man before I let him near our Nat.”

“Where is Nat?” Ben asks. 

“Napping on the couch,” Eliza says. “I don’t think he slept well last night.”

“Maybe I should come home,” Ben says. “If Nat’s not feeling well, I should be there-”

“Ben?” Someone comes into the room behind Ben and he turns around. “Are you talking to someone?”

“Oh, yes, Steve. Here, let me show you.” Ben walks over, phone shaking as he does. “This is a camera phone, just like in those novels you read. I’m talking to my family. Have a look.” The camera moves to show Ben standing next to Captain Steve Rogers. The latter blinks in surprise. 

“Wow,” he says. “Hi, Ben’s family.”

“Hi, Captain,” Eliza says. 

“Hey, Cap,” Caleb says. “Nice to see you again.”

“Oh, Brewster!” Steve says. “I thought you looked familiar! What are you doing here?”

“You know Steve?” Ben asks incredulously. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“When you’re nearly three hundred years old, you’ll forget things too,” Caleb says. “And it wasn’t til I heard his voice again that I remembered. It was that Azraelic sucker in Kansas City, wasn’t it? 1943?”

“Yeah, you handed me a spear and told me not to stab myself,” Steve says, starting to smile. “I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t have to worry about getting stabbed yourself.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Caleb says. “How you feeling? Ben getting you up to speed?” 

“Oh, yeah. Ben’s great,” Steve says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name, Miss?”

“Eliza Tallmadge. Ben’s wife,” Eliza supplies. “Nice to meet you, Steve.”

“And you, ma’am,” Steve says with a nod. “God, this is weird. I’m talking to people on a screen.”

“I know what you mean,” Ben says. “We didn’t even have phones when I came from.”

“Or toilets, which sucked,” Eliza adds. “I did not enjoy the lack of modern conveniences, as much as I love these two.”

“Yeah, I didn’t much enjoy living without toilets either,” Steve says, making a face. “Must be much harder for you.”

“You have no idea,” Eliza replies. Steve laughs, then looks slightly guilty.

“Um, I may have overheard something about a kid not feeling great,” Steve says. “If Ben needs to go home, I won’t keep him-”

“Nat is fine,” Caleb and Eliza interrupt together. 

“Look, we want Ben back eventually, but right now you need him, Steve,” Eliza says. “If there’s a problem, we’ll let Ben know right away.”

“Yeah, you focus on you, Cap. Ben can tell you, this first part sucks,” Caleb says. 

“He did. Though I think I lucked out in regards to health stuff,” Steve says. Ben makes a face while the other two giggle.

“Well, as soon as you’re cleared, you’re welcome to come to our house, Steve,” Eliza says. “Ben, we will call you if there’s any developments.”

“All right, and I’ll call you tonight, after we finish up for the day,” Ben says. “I love you.”

“Love you, Ben,” they say together. “Bye, Steve.”

“Bye!” Steve and Ben wave. Steve looks like as though he’s about to laugh when the video cuts out. Eliza starts to say something to Caleb about that when another contraction hits and she pauses to let it ride out. 

“Liza love, are you all right?” Caleb says, grabbing onto her arm. 

“Yeah, yeah. It was a contraction,” Eliza says, getting her voice back. “Don’t panic. They’ve only been coming every few hours.”

“Every few hours? For how long?” Caleb says. 

“Since eleven-ish, but they aren’t happening close enough to be a problem,” Eliza says. “If they start getting close enough, I’ll call Ben.” Caleb gives her a look. “What?”

“Weren’t we just discussing Ben not asking for help when he needs it?” Caleb says. Eliza rolls her eyes. 

“This is different. I know what I’m doing this time,” she says. “I will let you know if this becomes actual labor. Right now, it’s just some contractions. Too far apart to be anything serious.” Caleb rolls his eyes.

“We are all cut from the same cloth, that’s for damn sure,” he says.


	14. Eliza Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR WARNING for drugs and OD'ing- this chapter deals with the Political Animals episode where T.J. ODs. There is nothing explicitly shown here, but they will talk about it in this chapter and the next few chapters as they head to the hospital to see him.

Ben does call again later, mostly to say goodnight to Nat and recount his day to his spouses. They listen and smile at the triumph in his voice. Ben says that Steve is likely stable enough to come to D.C. in the next few days, but Ben will probably come home tomorrow just to be safe. 

Eliza is happy to hear that. Her contractions have slowed down. She doesn’t have one for about four hours after Caleb finds out she’s having them. Then they go to bed and she sleeps for a while before the phone wakes her up.

“I got it,” Caleb mutters, rolling away from Eliza to reach the nightstand. There’s some scrabbling sounds and the phone rings again before Caleb grabs it. “Hello?” Eliza settles in to fall back to sleep for however long she’s got, but then Caleb sits up suddenly. 

“When?” he says. “What did the doctors say?” Eliza pushes herself up to look at Caleb. She can see his shoulders tight as he listens, and she props her back on the pillows. “Okay. He’s not home, I’ll- yeah, it was important. He’ll probably fly back ASAP. The trouble will be keeping her home. Let us know if there’s any changes. Good luck.” Caleb hangs up and puts the phone down. 

“What’s going on?” Eliza asks. Caleb turns around to look at her, his face drawn.

“It’s T.J.,” he says. “He OD’d.” Eliza’s skin goes up in goosebumps as her heart skips. “He’s at the hospital, they say he’s going to be all right. Douglas says to stay home for now, you can come in the morning.”

“All right,” Eliza says. “But T.J.’s been clean. I don’t understand why he’d OD at his club, he promised-”

“It sounds as though there was a row at the house before the opening,” Caleb says. “I imagine that didn’t help. We can relieve your dad in the morning. Douglas will ask if Nat can come.”

“And Ben?” Eliza says. “He asked about Ben.”

“Douglas wants to talk to him,” Caleb says, drawing in a heavy breath. “I’m going to call him now.”

“Do you want me to do it?” Eliza asks. “You look like you need a minute.” Caleb nods. 

“That- that’d be good. Are you sure you don’t need a minute too?” he says.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve gone through T.J. overdosing,” Eliza says in a soft voice. The baby monitor lets out a wail. “Oh, fuck.”

“I’ve got him,” Caleb says. He gets himself up out of bed and Eliza picks up her phone. She waits until Caleb gets to Nat before dialing so Ben won’t hear the crying. 

“Hello?” Ben says, slightly groggy. “Eliza?”

“Ben, you need to come home,” Eliza says. 

“What’s going on?” Ben sounds fully awake now. “Is it Nat or the baby?” 

“It’s T.J.,” Eliza says. “He…he took too much cocaine and he’s in the hospital.”

“Oh, fuck,” Ben says. “I’ll find someone to fly me back. What should I do about Steve?” Eliza rubs her face. 

“I don’t know. If he’s stable enough, you can bring him along, but we don’t have time to babysit him,” she says. 

“I think he’s fine to come along,” Ben says. “I’ll let you know when I have a ride back. Does Caleb know?”

“Yeah, he’s upset, but I’ve got him,” Eliza says. “Come home soon, all right?” Her voice shakes a little and her fingers clutch the phone a little tighter. 

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Ben promises. “I love you. Take care of yourself.”

“I love you too, and right back at you,” Eliza says. Caleb comes back in with a hiccuping Nat. “See you soon.”

“See you soon.” Ben hangs up and Eliza puts the phone down. Caleb brings Nat over to the bed. 

“Hey, baby,” Eliza says, holding her arms out. Caleb puts Nat on the bed and Nat crawls up to Eliza. “It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay.” 

“Promise?” Nat says. Caleb climbs back into bed. They curl up together, Nat lying between the two sitting up. 

“Promise. Daddy will be home when you wake up and then we’re going to go visit Uncle T.J.,” Eliza says. Nat nods, jostling her nightshirt. Caleb’s head dips towards Eliza’s.

“Ben say when he was getting home?” he says.

“He’s got to go find someone to fly him home, then it should only be an hour or so,” Eliza says. “I’ll stay awake.”

“You think I’ll fall asleep?” Caleb says, stroking Nat’s head. “I’ll stay up with you.” They join hands over Nat’s hip. 

“Can I have a song, Mama?” Nat asks. 

“Of course, baby.” Eliza hums for a second to find a tune. Caleb looks at her with sad eyes and she gets it. 

“Remember when the music played in wooden boxes strung with silver wire,” Eliza sings in a low voice. “And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire. It was a gift we’d save, a gift the future gave.”

*

Ben texts not ten minutes later that he and the Captain were getting into the air. Nat is sleeping uneasily, so Eliza and Caleb take turns singing to keep him down. Caleb uses some of his dirtier sailing shanties to make Eliza smile, and she scolds him half-heartedly. 

Finally, the front door opens. All three heads lift. Eliza looks down at Nat and sighs. 

“Caleb, carry him down, would you?” she says. “Let’s go see Daddy.” She musses Nat’s hair. They all get up to go downstairs. Caleb hefts Nat onto his hip and Eliza sighs. 

“I can’t meet Captain America in this, can I?” she says. Caleb looks at her, in her nightshirt that barely goes down to her ass. 

“Take my robe,” he suggests, picking the garment off the closet’s doorknob. He tosses it over and Eliza catches it. She pulls the robe on over her shoulders and ties the sash over her belly. 

“You haven’t had any more contractions, have you?” Caleb asks. Eliza shakes her head. 

“Seems they’ve stopped. Told you not to worry about it,” she says. She leads the way to the door and then the stairs. The stairs are always an adventure, but Eliza makes it down just fine. 

There are two tall blond men in her living room. One is her husband, the other is an unreal amount of muscle and height. They turn to her with almost identical looks of surprise.

“Eliza, I didn’t expect you to get up,” Ben says, walking up to her. “We’re perfectly capable of getting squared away.”

“We wanted to see you,” Eliza says, gesturing to Caleb and Nat behind her. “How was the flight?”

“It was very nice, actually. The city lights are lovely at night,” Ben says. “Steve, this is my wife, Eliza, and you know Caleb.” Steve nods. “And this is our son Nat.” Ben takes Nat from Caleb. Nat buries his face in Ben’s shirt.

“He’s been in and outta sleep since we got the news about T.J., so he’s not real sociable at the moment,” Caleb says. “Hey, Steve.” He holds out a hand to Steve, who takes it.

“Hey, Brewst-” Steve stops as Caleb pulls him into one of those bro-hugs that men started doing in Eliza’s absence. Caleb pats Steve on the back and the younger man looks like a little boy who’s just been found in the cold.

“There you are, buddy,” Caleb says. “Good to have you.” He lets go of Steve, who’s still a little stunned.

“Thank you.” Steve turns to Eliza. “Ma’am- Eliza?”

“You can call me Eliza, that’s fine.” Eliza reaches up and takes Steve by the collar. She pulls his face down to where she can reach so she can kiss his cheek. “Welcome. I’m sorry if we rushed you out.”

“Oh, no, Eliza, I’m happy to be out of that place,” Steve says, flustered and red as he stands up straight. “I hope I’m not putting you out- You have the thing with your brother and a new baby coming-”

“Having an extra pair of hands will go a long way,” Eliza interrupts. “Ben and Caleb tell me you’re damn smart and quick-thinking, which we can use.” Steve goes even redder. 

“Thank you, ma’am- Eliza,” he says. “Is there anything I can do for you now?” 

“You can go put your things in the guest room- Caleb can show you- and we’ll figure out what happens now,” Eliza says. Steve nods. He picks up his bag, which is very small for such a large man, and Caleb nods. 

“Right this way.” Caleb gestures grandly to the staircase. Steve hides a smirk before following him over. Eliza turns to Ben. They sigh. 

“It’s been a bit of a day,” Ben says.

“I think you’ve made the understatement of the year, Ben,” Eliza says. “Let’s go into the kitchen. I’ll call Douglas and see what’s going on with T.J. It’s, what, four-thirty now?”

“Just about,” Ben says. He rubs Nat’s back as they walk over to the kitchen. “He wasn’t sleeping again?”

“He was fine until we got the phone call. Then he woke up crying,” Eliza says, sitting down. 

“Scared,” Nat mutters. “Want Uncle T.J. to be okay.”

“Uncle T.J. is going to be fine, baby,” Eliza says. 

“Everything’s going to be just fine, Nat,” Ben says. He starts rocking Nat back and forth. “Eliza, call your brother. I’ve got Nat.” Eliza picks up the phone. She can hear footsteps on the stairs as she dials. 

“Eliza?” Douglas says. His voice is frazzled. “What are you doing up?”

“You think I can sleep now?” Eliza says as Caleb and Steve come back. “Ben’s home. What can we do?”

“Uh, someone should probably relieve Dad at the hospital, and if Caleb could go through T.J.’s room with Anne and Nana- yes, Caleb, Mom, he’s T.J.’s best friend, he’ll know where to look. Also someone should go to T.J.’s place and grab some clothes for him,” Douglas says. “I have to get on a plane-”

“We’re on it. I’ll go relieve Dad, Caleb will go to Mom’s place and T.J.’s, and Ben will run support between the two of us,” Eliza says, more to her spouses than Douglas. They both nod. Douglas sighs.

“God, you’re the best. I’ll let Mom know,” he says. “Thank you so much.”

“You got it, Douglas,” Eliza answers. Douglas hangs up and Eliza turns to the men in the kitchen.

“I’m going to T.J.’s place, then your Mom’s?” Caleb repeats. “They’re moving him into her place?”

“Apparently. I’d rather have him here, but we don’t have round-the-clock security,” Eliza says. “I think Steve should go with you while Ben drives me to the hospital to give Dad a break watching over T.J.”

“And Nat?” Ben says. He’s just gotten the boy to sleep against his chest. Eliza purses her lips. 

“I suppose he could come with me. There’ll be too much action with Caleb,” she says. “You guys okay with this plan?”

“Makes sense to me,” Caleb says. “Tallboy?”

“As long as no one leaves me alone in a room with Bud, I should be fine,” Ben says with a scowl. 

“Who’s Bud?” Steve asks. 

“My dad. He and Ben got into it the last time they saw each other, and Ben verbally kicked his ass,” Eliza says. “Is the plan okay to you, Steve? We’re kinda throwing you into a mess here, you could stay at the house and borrow Ben’s history books if you’d like.”

“Nah, I’d rather be in the mess,” Steve says with a shrug. “If I need to bow out, I’ll let Brewster know.” Eliza nods. 

“All right.” 

“Grab one of the general history books anyway, you might get caught with nothing to do,” Ben says. “I’ll show you the study while these two get dressed.” He nods at Caleb and Eliza, who remember their state of night dress. They nod. 

“I could bring your clothes down here so you don’t have to go back up and down,” Caleb offers.

“That’d be awesome,” Eliza says. “Dress, leggings, sweater? Hospitals are over air-conditioned.”

“And underwear. Got it,” Caleb says with a nod. “Anything else?”

“Shoes,” Ben says, walking over to Steve. 

“Obviously!” Caleb says, somewhat testy. Ben raises a brow but leads Steve out without another word. Eliza gives Caleb a look. 

“There’s no need to snap at him,” she says.

“I’m not stupid, Eliza, I know you need shoes,” Caleb says, crossing his arms. “He doesn’t need to do that-”

“He was being helpful. You’re tired and you might have forgotten,” Eliza says, her own ire leaking into her voice. “He knows you’re not stupid. Now go get our shit together, please.” Caleb takes a deep breath to calm himself, then walks away muttering. Eliza sighs. The baby decides now is a perfect time to perfect her goal kick and hammers away at Eliza’s ribcage.

“Not you too…”


	15. Caleb Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which things get slightly more complicated.

Caleb kept muttering ‘dammit T.J.’ under his breath when he drove. He knew it wasn’t helping anything and it was kind of freaking out his passenger, but it relieved some of his stress.

“So,” Steve says on the way to Elaine’s place. “You and the Tallmadges…”

“Yeah?” Caleb says, only half paying attention.

“You were sleeping at their place,” Steve says. “And you were comfortable getting Eliza’s underwear for her.” Caleb turns to Steve at the red light.

“Oh, shit, yeah,” he says. “I didn’t even think of- we’re a matched set, the three of us. We’re all sort of married. Not legally, but as much as we can be.”

“Oh, okay,” Steve says. “Is that a thing now, in the future?”

“Eh, not really. Some people do it, but it’s not common,” Caleb says. The light turns green in his peripheral vision and he looks back at the road ahead. “Eliza’s parents don’t know. Her brothers do, and maybe Anne, but that’s it. Well, my coworkers, but that’s different.”

“Why do your coworkers know but not Eliza’s parents?” Steve says. 

“Because my coworkers only care as far as who they have to notify if I get hurt, and Eliza’s parents will throw a bitchfit if they knew,” Caleb says. “They already hate Ben and they’re pissed at Eliza for…reasons.”

“That’s specific,” Steve says drily. 

“It’s a long complicated story, which I will tell you later because we have enough long and complicated right now,” Caleb says. “What did Ben tell you about Eliza’s family?”

“He told me that her brothers are twins, and they’ve sort of attached themselves to him as their brother,” Steve says. “Ben also said that Anne’s lovely, Elaine has control issues, Bud is a hypocritical dirtbag, and Margaret is not someone I should be left alone with.”

“God, no.” Caleb shivers. “Like, she’s not a Nazi or anything, but she says things dirty enough to make me blush. Not to mention she’s part of the reason Elaine’s such a raging bitch.”

“Mm,” Steve says, nodding. “Eliza turned out all right.”

“Elaine and Bud were hands-off parents,” Caleb says. “Too busy smiling into the spotlight- learn to drive, you witless fucking cocksplat!” 

“It’s nice to know road rage hasn’t changed,” Steve says lightly, and Caleb laughs in spite of himself.

*

Caleb has Steve carry T.J.’s stuff- what’s the point in bringing along a supersoldier if you can’t make him do the lifting?- up to Elaine’s door. Caleb rings the doorbell.

“This is a nice place,” Steve notes.

“Evil always looks pretty until it doesn’t,” Caleb says.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Steve says. Caleb smirks as the door opens. Margaret is there, and she looks directly at Steve.

“Hello, Mrs. Barrish. Douglas asked us to-”

“Steven G. Rogers, as I live and breathe!” Margaret says, smiling. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Maggie?” Steve says before Caleb can come up with a save. “Maggie Dane?”

“Damn right, Steve. Only I go by Margaret Barrish now,” Margaret says. She turns to Caleb. “I knew him from my dancing days. Where’d you dig him up?”

“Er, the Arctic,” Caleb says. “He’s with me for now, so he’s helping out. Can we continue this inside?”

“Of course! Come on, Steve, honey, I can catch you up on the girls since you went off to join the Army Boys,” Margaret says. She steps aside to let them in. “Anne! Anne, honey, you need to meet Steve!” 

“Mrs. Barrish, Steve’s return isn’t exactly public yet,” Caleb says. 

“The girl’s in the damn bathroom again- it’s just Anne, Brewster, she won’t say anything,” Margaret says. “You might as well come down to the bedroom, we’ll unpack while we look.”

“Look for what?” Steve says.

“Drugs,” Margaret says. “My grandson’s an addict, honey, and they’ll hide that shit wherever they can. Did you find any at his place?”

“Nope, clean as a whistle,” Caleb says as they head down the hall to T.J.’s old room. “I’m telling you, he was sober for the past month before this.”

“You don’t have to cover for him, Brewster, we all know he wasn’t,” Margaret says, dismissing him with a wave. Caleb bites back a retort- he can’t redo the wards on T.J.’s room without getting inside, and fighting with Margaret will keep him out of the room.

“I didn’t see any drug stuff at T.J.’s place either,” Steve says. He sounds pretty firm in that, but Margaret doesn’t take him seriously either.

“Oh, you’re still adorable, Steve. Here we are,” she says, opening the door. The room is almost exactly as Caleb remembers it, though the plant he gave T.J. is back at T.J.’s place, still alive and well. Caleb had been surprised by that. 

“You can put that bag down on the floor, honey, we haven’t started searching yet.” Margaret heads in with a sigh. Caleb turns to Steve and makes a face he hopes indicates ‘I told you so.’ Steve nods in agreement. 

“Oh, hey,” Anne walks in. She smiles tightly at Caleb. “It’s so good to see you. Douglas said you would be coming to help. Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is Steve Rogers. I used to dance with him in the USO tours,” Margaret says. “Apparently, they found him in the ice and Brewster’s babysitting.” Steve’s shoulders go tight.

“That’s not exactly what the situation,” Caleb says. “Anne, this is Steve Rogers. He’s staying with Ben and Eliza for a little while, but we thought the hospital wasn’t a great place to bring him. Steve, this is Eliza’s future sister-in-law, Anne, who’s an absolute delight.” Anne’s smile is a little realer as she nods at Steve. Steve’s shoulders relax. 

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he says.

“And you,” Anne says. “Never thought I’d get to meet the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan.” She shakes her shoulders a little with the moniker, and Steve chuckles.

“I am never going hear the end of that one,” he says, crossing his arms.

“Nope. I used to sing it to the kids when they were little,” Margaret says. “All right, let’s get cracking. There’s some drug paraphernalia in here somewhere.” She starts going through drawers.

“You really think T.J. keeps drugs inside the Secretary of State’s house?” Anne says, pulling off the dusty comforter. Caleb comes over to help her with the heavy down blanket. “Thanks.”

“Of course he does, he’s an addict,” Margaret says. “Steve, be a help and start lifting up the mattress? It’s an obvious spot, but addicts can be damn stupid.” 

“Sure thing.” Steve goes over to the mattress, spanning the side of it as best he can. He lifts it a few inches off the boxspring and Margaret bends down to take a look. 

“Eh, nothing under, nothing along the seams- Brewster, take a look, you’ve got sharper eyes than me.” Caleb comes back as Anne folds the comforter and bends over. He can’t see any tears along the seams either. 

“We’re clean. You can put it down, Cap,” he says. Steve grunts and lowers the mattress back down. “What, that was too heavy?”

“Nah, just unwieldy,” Steve says. “Swear these used to be smaller.”

“Welcome to the future,” Caleb answers. “Big things are smaller and small things are bigger. Anne, darling, where are the new sheets?”

*

They search, clean, and redecorate for about an hour. Steve gets put in charge of cleaning with occasional search help while Anne does the redecorating. Margaret and Caleb do the searching, though Caleb might be painting some protective wards while he searches. 

“You know, when I was your age, Anne, I was the original Girl-Gone-Wild,” Margaret says as they start looking in the knick-knacks. “Just ask Steve here- dancing on table tops in clubs all over the country, meeting strange and interesting people, volunteering to be lifted up on a motorcycle by a man in tights- that’s Steve, by the way.”

“Tights and shorts!” Steve protests, wiping down a window.

“Doesn’t make a difference,” Caleb replies from under the bed. 

“You looked cute either way, honey,” Margaret says. 

“Why did you decide to settle down?” Anne asks.

“Oh, it was my second husband,” Margaret says. “It was Elaine’s stepfather. Dale Barrish. He treated me like a queen, but he was boring as shit.” Caleb laughs, worming his way out from under the bed. He’d only found some porn and old lube under the floorboards, nothing drug-related.

“You didn’t love him?” Anne says, sitting on the bed. She flicks some dust off of Caleb’s hair. Margaret shrugs, looking at them in the mirror. 

“There’s all kinds of love, isn’t there? I mean, I loved his kindness,” she says, looking wistful. Caleb gets up to check out the headboard. Then Margaret turns around with a smile. “And I love what he did for Elaine. He taught her the preamble to the Constitution. Of course she was five! He just saw abilities in her I couldn’t see.” She sits down on the one armchair in the room. “But it just wasn’t the head over heels love thing, you know.”

“You ever get the head over heels thing, Maggie?” Steve asks, stopping in his cleaning. Margaret shrugs.

“Once maybe. It didn’t last,” she says. “I don’t think that kind ever does.” Anne turns to Caleb for a second, raising a questioning eyebrow. He isn’t sure what the question is, though, and he shrugs. Anne looks back at Margaret.

“That cushion you’re sitting on,” she says, standing up. “I bet there’s a zipper on the back.” Margaret gets up and out of the way. They pull the cushion up on its front end. Caleb pulls the headboard forward and finds a symbol that he did not put there.

“Fucking hell,” he says in spite of himself. “This is not good.”

“We didn’t find any- what are you looking at?” Anne asks. 

“Cap, I’m gonna need you to move the bed out,” Caleb says. “We have a slight, possibly major problem.”

“Not like Kansas City, is it?” Steve says, going to the end of the bed. He pulls the frame forward, revealing the dripping red symbols written on the wall. Margaret gasps.

“What in the hell is that?” she demands. “T.J. did that?”

“Not a chance. That boy wouldn’t have tried this kind of magic without my help,” Caleb says, pulling out his phone. “This is a summoning charm, and it’s the type that should have caused a lot of noise. So either your security is really lackluster or-” Caleb snaps a picture of the symbols and sends it to Diomara. “-it happened while there were a lot of people making a lot of noise in the house.”

“So it’s just like Kansas City,” Steve says. He lets out a tired breath. “I thought this day couldn’t get more interesting.”


	16. Caleb Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for hospitals, drug talk, medical abuse. 
> 
> I do love these chapters. Anne is so much fun to write, and having Steve along for the ride is hilarious. We also get more Phil and a special guest appearance by Jemma Simmons!

Caleb sends Margaret to get the security guys to search the rest of the house for more symbols. He can hear her chew them out for letting someone vandalize the house while he starts neutralizing the symbol. Anne and Steve check out the attached bathroom for drugs and symbols. Finally, Caleb’s phone rings with Diomara’s ringtone. He fishes it out of his pocket with one hand while he spreads sage paste over the middle symbol.

“What do you got for me, Diomara?” Caleb says.

“It’s a summoning charm, all right, but it’s a little odd,” Diomara says. “I’m looking in my intranet archives, and this set of symbols is used to summon up Xaphan. Xaphan’s a useless demon unless you’re trying to find an innovative solution to a supernatural problem or a loophole in a demon contract.”

“That’s pretty useful,” Caleb says. 

“Yeah, until it bites you in the ass,” Diomara says with a scoff. “Xaphan’s a demon, not a consultant. Any solution they give you is going to have consequences.”

“Obviously. How well-known is this Xaphan?” Caleb asks. 

“Not very. You can find them in some of the archaic texts and with some Google-detective work, but you’d have to be desperate,” Diomara says. “Or stupid. Xaphan used to be an angel, but they sided with Lucifer during the Civil War. Xaphan’s now a second order demon, which means calling on them is going to alert some of the big guns in Hell.”

“Well, isn’t that just peachy,” Caleb grumbles, covering the last symbol. Steve and Anne come back in the room. “Thanks, Diomara, for the research. Anything else you want to tell me?”

“Yeah, one of my friends just called me before you sent that picture,” Diomara says. “You know Gordene in New Mexico? She says you need to be careful with children today.” A chill goes down Caleb’s spine.

“Can you be more specific?” he says, trying not to let his fear show. 

“That’s all she told me,” Diomara says. There’s sympathy in her voice, which does not do a damn thing to calm Caleb’s nerves. “I’ll take a look at things, but I can’t promise you anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, just let me know if you see anything,” Caleb says. “Bye.” He hangs up before she can say anything else. Caleb turns to Anne. “All right, someone called up a demon that’s good at loopholes. My best guess it was somebody trying to get out of a demon deal. I doubt it was the Secretary or her mother, pretty sure it wasn’t you or Douglas, very sure it wasn’t T.J., which leads me to the conclusion that someone did this during a party. Probably the engagement party, the big one, since the dinner was too small to cover up the noise of a demon showing up.”

“Someone summoned a demon here during my engagement party?” Anne says, looking sick. “We had Nat at that party!”

“Yeah, and I was there, and I didn’t notice a fucking thing,” Caleb says. He scowls. “This is all too centralized. We got a demon summoning in this house, a demon in T.J.’s rehab, we had Eliza get sent through a timeslip not once but twice, and an uptick in demons in this area. Something is going on, somebody’s attracted Hell’s attention.”

“Well, maybe they made the deal to hurt the Secretary and her family,” Steve suggests. “That could be why T.J. OD’d.”

“T.J. OD’d because his parents are jerks who diminished his accomplishments and treat him like a kid who’s stealing from the cookie jar,” Anne says bitterly. “You should have seen that fight last night, Caleb, it was awful.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with Anne on the overdose, but that fight might have been worsened by the aftereffects of this badboy,” Caleb says, pointing at the symbols. “And Steve’s got a point about the Secretary- maybe someone doesn’t want her running in two years.”

“How do you know about that?” Anne says.

“Please, Eliza told me weeks ago,” Caleb says. “It’s stupid move, but she does have a legitimate chance, according to the psychic in the woods.”

“Yeah, but Elaine didn’t decide she was going to run until a few hours before the party,” Anne says. “Douglas was the first person to know.”

“And Douglas wouldn’t make a demon deal, he’s not that stupid,” Caleb says. He runs a hand over his beard. “Shite. Fuck. We gotta figure this out. Who has a grudge against this family and is dumb enough to use demons?”

“That could be anyone!” Anne says. A thought occurs to Caleb. It is not a good thought. He does not like that thought.

“Brewster, you look like you have an idea,” Steve says.

“I do, but I have very little evidence,” Caleb says. “Anne, do you have a copy of the guest list from the party? That’ll have to be our starting point.”

“Yeah, it’s in my email,” Anne says. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and Caleb turns to Steve.

“What did you find in the bathroom, Cap?” he asks.

“Uh, marijuana and a truly disgusting razor,” Steve says. “Separately.”

“Good, I’d hate to think T.J. would waste good pot,” Caleb says. “We might have to leave that for the ladies. Anne, send me that list-” Caleb’s phone goes off again. This time, it’s Ben’s ringtone. Caleb takes the phone out, frowning.

“Yeah, Tallboy?” Caleb says.

“It’s Eliza,” Ben says, voice choked. Ice goes through Caleb’s veins. “Somebody drugged her- the baby’s in distress-” Be careful with children, Caleb recalls. 

“I’ll be right there,” Caleb says. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, just keep it together for a few more minutes, all right?”

“All right. Please hurry,” Ben urges. 

“I will.” Caleb hangs up. He looks at Anne and Steve, whose expressions are grave.

“We’ve got to get to the hospital,” Caleb says. “Eliza’s been drugged and the baby’s in distress. Probably related to this, so-” Caleb gestures to the symbols again. “Anne, send me the list, collect Margaret, meet us at the hospital. Steve, with me.” Caleb heads for the door, feet moving at a speed he can’t seem to control. Steve is on his heels. They pass the security guys tearing the house apart and Caleb barely notices them. He has to get to the hospital. He has to get there now.

*

Caleb’s car is not technically supposed to come with the flashing lights or the siren, but he exercised his right as a federal agent to put them in there anyway. He’s never been more grateful for that than today, speeding through traffic as best as he can without causing a major accident. Steve says nothing about the breakneck pace, but Caleb does catch him gripping the arm rest tightly enough to crush it.

Caleb flashes his badge to get through the various obstacles in his way: security, nurses, a particularly curious doctor. Steve follows him dutifully until they get to the maternity ward. Caleb gets a nurse to take them to Eliza’s room. 

“Caleb!” Eliza and Ben say together when he gets in the room. Eliza’s face is shiny with sweat as she reclines in the hospital bed, her hand wrapped in Ben’s. Ben’s face is wan and Caleb swears he’s twitching. 

“Hey, what the hell happened?” Caleb says, coming over. He kisses Ben on the cheek, then Eliza.

“Someone drugged the hospital iced tea,” Eliza says. “They dosed it with- unnhh- Pitocin. It causes contractions.” No shit, Caleb thinks, watching her squeeze Ben’s hand.

“The iced tea? Jesus,” Caleb says. “What’s the plan?”

“Caesarian section,” Ben says. “It’s surgery.” Fear flashes in his eyes, and Caleb knows he’s thinking of the surgeries they’d seen in their war days.

“That’s not terrible. When?” Caleb says. 

“As soon as-” Eliza sucks in a breath. “-there’s an OR available. I’ll be getting my drugs after all.” She lets out a weak laugh. Ben puts a kiss on her hand, though whether that’s supposed to comfort him or her is unclear.

“I imagine. Where’s Nat and did anyone save iced tea containers?” Caleb says. 

“In T.J.’s room, to both questions,” Ben says. A bunch of people enter.

“We have an OR ready, Mrs. Tallmadge, let’s get going,” a woman in scrubs says. “You ready to have a baby?”

“You bet,” Eliza says. She reaches up and kisses Caleb on the cheek. “You take care of things while I’m busy, okay?”

“You got it, Liza Love.” Caleb steps back so they can wheel Eliza away. He squeezes Ben’s shoulder before they head out, and he swears Ben’s never looked so scared. 

*

Caleb makes Steve wait outside T.J.’s room, mostly to keep him from seeing T.J. Caleb still remembers the resemblance between T.J. and Bucky, even with all of what’s going on.

“Uncle Caleb!” Nat jumps up off the couch and runs over. He’s changed out of his pajamas, thankfully, so Caleb doesn’t have to worry about that. Caleb catches Nat and swings him up into his arms. 

“Hey, little bug. You doing all right?” Caleb asks. 

“Uh-huh,” Nat says. “How’s Mama?”

“She’s going into to have the baby right now, and everything should be just fine,” Caleb says. “Doctors say it should all be good in an hour or so, you can see her after that.”

“How was T.J.’s room at the house?” Elaine asks, looking up from her seat by T.J.’s bed. 

“Well, the only drug we found was some pot in the bathroom,” Caleb says. “We did find something else, though. You recall my area of investigative specialty?” Bud sits up straight on the couch as Elaine stiffens.

“I do,” she says.

“Looks like someone borrowed T.J.’s room during the engagement party to summon a…thing,” Caleb finishes. “I’m on it. It definitely wasn’t T.J. who did it.”

“How d’you know?” Bud says. 

“He would have asked me to help him if he were going to meddle in that nonsense,” Caleb says. “I’ve got my theories. Margaret and Anne are on their way to help you two with Nat and T.J. I’m going need those iced tea cups Eliza had.”

“I’ve got them over here,” Bud says, holding up a small plastic bag. “I fished them out of the trash- they were the only things she had while she was here, and the blood tests said she was dosed here.”

“Why would someone dose her with Pitocin?” Elaine asks. “What do they gain from sending Eliza into early labor?”

“No idea, but I’ll find out,” Caleb says. “I’d like to know how they got the drugs to her without anyone knowing, but I’ll find that out too. Nat-” He looks back at his boy. “-I’m going to need you to keep an eye on your uncle T.J. for me. If anybody shady tries to touch him or you, you scream as loud as you can, all right?”

“Uh-huh,” Nat says. “And you’re gonna find the bad guy? Who hurt Mama and Uncle T.J.?” 

“You bet, bug,” Caleb says, tapping Nat on the nose. “You be good for your grandparents and your Aunt Anne, all right?” 

“All right,” Nat says. Caleb lowers Nat to the ground. Then he walks up and takes the bag from Bud. 

“Thank you,” Caleb says. “I’ll take these to be analyzed, question hospital staff, and track this back to the source. I will be speedy and thorough. When T.J. wakes up, tell him I love him and he’s a dumbass.” Caleb turns around and leaves. 

“What now?” Steve asks when he sees Caleb come out the door.

“Now we go scare some hospital staff,” Caleb says. “Put your game face on, Steve-O, it’s time to work out some aggression.”

*

The hospital staff is actually really helpful, unfortunately for Caleb’s bound fears, and they point the two men in the right direction. First they head to the kitchen, where the drinks are kept, where they find a half-empty case of the same iced teas Eliza was drinking. Steve grabs that and they head down to the supply room where such cases are kept. According to the logs kept by the hospital, there is a discrepancy between the number of cases delivered, and the number of cases in storage vs. in use. The discrepancy, which the staff had dismissed as someone messing up the math, is one extra case in use. Caleb can’t find anyone who knows where this case came from, so he decides to take Steve and their evidence down to the Triskelion. 

*

“Simmons!” Caleb shouts, coming into the lab. The small genius jumps at his voice. 

“Agent Brewster! Hello!” she says, smiling brightly. “What brings you down here?” Caleb leads Steve up to Simmons’ lab table and they set their loads down.

“I’ve got hospital-brand iced teas dosed with enough Pitocin to send a 35-week fetus into distress and the probable case they came from,” Caleb says. “I need you to identify the batch so I can find who bought it.”

“Oh, of course, I can do that,” Simmons says. “How quickly do you need the results? I have some priority cases-”

“I’m calling priority level seven,” Caleb interrupts. “You do this first and you do it fast.” Simmons blanches. 

“Of-of course, sir,” she says with a shaky nod. “Would- would you like me to have Fitz check over the closed cups to see how the drug was introduced?”

“Yes, yes, I would. You do that,” Caleb says. “I am going back to my office to brief my friend here. You call me as soon as you have something.” He grabs Steve by the arm and Steve lets himself be led back to the elevator.

“So are you gonna tell me your idea yet?” Steve asks as the elevator doors open.

“Yeah, Brewster.” The two see Coulson standing in the elevator. He looks at Caleb. “What is your idea?” 

“Hi, Phillard,” Caleb says with a sigh. “I’ll brief you too. Come on, Steve.” He goes into the elevator, Steve right after him. 

“Do you wanna explain why you’re dragging Captain Rogers all over the city?” Coulson says. 

“We had a family emergency,” Caleb answers. “T.J. OD’d. Someone summoned a demon in the Barrish house while you and I were both there, and someone dosed Eliza to send her into early labor.”

“Is that the same someone for both things?” Coulson asks. 

“I’m starting to think so,” Caleb says. “And I’ve got a pretty good idea who.”

*

Steve rubs his face, standing in Caleb’s office by the hole Barton made in the wall. 

“So you think it was this Chris Johnson guy who did all this,” he says as Caleb loads up a bag of magic weapons. “He made a deal with a demon, he summoned the other demon to figure out how to get out of the deal, and he drugged Eliza.”

“That’s the theory,” Caleb says.

“It’s an interesting theory,” Coulson says, standing by Caleb’s desk. “If Senator Johnson is Nathaniel’s biological father, he would come out of a leak of that information better than Mrs. Tallmadge, especially since most people don’t know the circumstances.”

“It would also explain the original timeslip,” Caleb says. He takes a gun from his weapons table and checks the cartridge. It’s loaded. “If Johnson made a deal for a successful career in politics, a child out of wedlock with someone who had no interest in marrying him would be an obstacle the demon would have to deal with. The demon could have caused Eliza to go through the timeslip.” Caleb puts the gun in a belt holster, which he then attaches to his belt.

“What about the second one?” Coulson says. 

“Balance. You send a woman back in time, you send a woman forward in time,” Caleb says. “The universe doesn’t like imbalance. You act to change it, it’ll react.”

“What I don’t understand is the Pitocin thing,” Steve says, crossing his arms. “That’s not likely to cause Eliza any real harm. The baby, sure. That’s pretty evil, but it doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of Johnson’s actions. Eliza was in the hospital, she got care right away. Why send her into early labor where she can get immediate help?”

“That I haven’t figured out, but I will,” Caleb says. “I can’t think of anyone else who would do that to her. Nobody hates her that much.” His cell phone rings. Caleb takes it out from his pocket. “Yeah?”

“I’ve identified the batch of Pitocin in the iced tea, as well as the buyer,” Simmons says. “It was a man named Jack Tyler. He’s some kind of Senator’s aide or something-”

“For the Junior Senator from South Carolina?” Caleb interrupts.

“Yes, sir. And we’ve confirmed those cups came from the case you brought in. They hid the entry point so cleverly, actually-”

“Simmons, you’re a doll, but I do not have time to hear the whole thing right now,” Caleb says. “I will come by your lab later. Thanks so much.” Caleb hangs up. He looks at Coulson. “I gotta go to the hospital and set up security. Would you help Simmons go through the evidence?”

“I will. Are you taking Captain Rogers?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah, he’s my backup,” Caleb says. “Steve, we’re going to the hospital, then we’re going after Johnson. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Steve says with a nod. “Let’s go.”


	17. Caleb Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late posting, I was sick this week. To make up for it, you will get three chapters instead of two! Fair warning, we will be seeing some blood and hanging out in hospitals for most of these chapters.

The hospital’s entrance has two doors. There’s the revolving door and there’s the regular door. Caleb and Steve go through the revolving door as a man carries a child out the regular door. Caleb sees them and grabs Steve before the larger man can go into the lobby. 

“Nope, change of plans,” Caleb says, still watching the man carrying the kid. “We’re following that guy.”

“What? Why?” Steve says. 

“He’s got my Nat,” Caleb says. They go out the door into the parking lot. “Keep an eye on that guy while I take us back to the car.” Steve nods. Caleb leads him by the arm to the car. 

“He’s putting Nat in a car seat. The car’s black, license plate 76PH66,” Steve says. 

“Great. Get in.” Caleb lets go of Steve and they both go into the car. Caleb spots the car in his rearview mirror and backs up out of the space. The guy gets into his car and drives out of the parking lot. Caleb is behind him.

They drive for about a half hour, leaving the metro areas and going to the edges of the city, where the houses are far enough apart for screams to go unheard. Caleb parks two houses down from where the small black car does. He’d kept enough distance that the other driver doesn’t look around after getting out. 

“Now what?” Steve asks. 

“Now we watch him go in and figure out a way in,” Caleb says. The driver takes Nat out of the car. Nat looks around and Caleb sighs in relief. “Thank God. He’s all right.”

The driver takes Nat into the house through the front door. Caleb waits a moment before opening his car door. He and Steve get out of the car and creep over to the house. They case the perimeter together. It isn’t all that well-secured, thank god, and Steve can pry up the basement door in the backyard. They get in without any sense of anyone noticing. 

Once in the basement, Caleb gets a pain in his left knee. Most people would ignore that sensation at such a time, but in Caleb’s experience, this pain only means one thing. And it isn’t good.

“Shite,” Caleb breathes. 

“What?” Steve mutters. 

“Johnson is definitely trying to get out of his deal today,” Caleb says. “He’s opened a portal.”

“How do you know?” 

“My left knee has a sense of these things.” Caleb leads the way out of the basement. The first floor has a few guys who look vaguely security-ish, as well as the driver. Caleb and Steve make short work of them without making too much noise. When they go up the second set of stairs, the pain in Caleb’s knee gets sharper. It’s worst outside a bedroom door and Caleb gestures to it. Steve nods. Steve pushes it open slowly and Caleb goes in first.

In the center of the room, there is a gaping hole, ringed in red and swirling in reddish smoke. Caleb has seen this before; it’s a portal to hell. Those are never, ever good, and this one is sitting between him and his Nat. The boy is peering at the portal from on top of the king-size bed. Next to the bed stands the asshole responsible for all of this, holding a very old book.

“Christopher Johnson!” Caleb calls, stepping into the room. Johnson looks over at him.

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“Uncle Caleb!” Nat yells, clapping in delight. 

“Oh, Tallmadge’s butt-buddy,” Johnson says. “I’m guessing you’re here for the kid.” Caleb walks further into the room. 

“I am, you stupid bastard,” Caleb answers. “You made a deal with a demon, I’m assuming for your career. And you owe that demon blood, and you’re trying to weasel out of the deal by using the kid who has your blood, you shit-faced moron.”

“Someone’s cleverer than he looks,” Johnson says. Steve walks into the room, walking opposite Caleb. “And who the fuck are you?”

“I’m his backup,” Steve says. “And you’re not using that kid to get out of that deal.”

“What exactly are you going to do about it?” Johnson says with a sneer. Caleb reaches for his gun. Johnson drops the book and grabs Nat by the collar. Nat squeals as Johnson holds him up against his chest. 

“Not so fast, asshole.” Johnson pins Nat up with one arm. The other hand starts tossing herbs into the portal. Caleb points his gun at Johnson anyway. Johnson scoffs. “You’re not going to shoot your precious godson, come on. Don’t try to bluff a politician.”

“Something you should know about me, Johnson,” Caleb says, watching Nat squirm. “I don’t bluff.” Johnson stops with the herbs and takes a knife out of his pocket. 

“Brewster,” Steve says, voice tight. 

“You wouldn’t shoot me while I’m holding the kid,” Johnson says. 

“Shut your eyes, Nat,” Caleb says. Nat does, covering his ears too. Johnson’s confidence flickers. His hand twitches as Caleb takes aim.

“Brewster-” The gunshot echoes through the room, punctuated by Johnson’s howl. Blood spurts from his hand, Johnson’s knife clattering to the floor. The blood falls into the portal and the portal starts to shrink. Johnson drops Nat back on the bed, the boy clambering away. As the portal grows smaller, Steve darts forward to grab Nat. He skirts the edge and Nat leaps into his arms. Caleb continues advancing on Johnson, who is now on his knees in pain. Caleb keeps the gun out, but he also takes the phone from his pocket.

“You fucker!” Johnson wails, holding his bleeding hand.

“Hey, you made it difficult,” Caleb replies. “It’s not my fault you were too stupid to figure out a blood pact doesn’t mean all of your blood. You really only have to give a little, but a demon’s not gonna tell you that.” Caleb puts the phone to his ear as it rings. “You all right, Nat?”

“Yeah!” Nat replies. 

“You,” Steve breathes, looking from Johnson’s bleeding hand to Caleb, “are either insane or incredible.”

“Like to think it’s a dash of both,” Caleb says. The ringing stops.

“Brewster?” Phil says. 

“Phillory! Have I got a story for you…”


	18. Ben Seven

Susannah Abigail Tallmadge is born screaming and kicking. Ben sees her right away and that soothes one of his fears- she looks just like Nat had, albeit a bit bigger and somewhat slimier. A nurse whisks her away to clean her up. Ben stays with Eliza, who looks much calmer about this whole ordeal than he is. It might be the drugs.

“What does she look like?” Eliza says as the doctors start to stitch her up. 

“She’s perfect,” Ben says. “She’s pink and squirmy, just like she’s supposed to be.” Eliza gives a laugh. 

“You’re perfect,” she says. 

“Hardly,” Rogers whispers. “If you were, you’d have kept them both from being hurt.”

*

After Eliza and Susannah are squared away in a room of their own and Ben’s had a chance to meet his daughter, he goes to fetch his son. Ben gets to T.J.’s room to find Elaine bending down to dab at Margaret’s face.

“What the hell happened?” Ben says, looking at the blossoming bruise on Margaret’s forehead. 

“Someone attacked us,” Margaret says, voice wobbly. “We’d gone to use the bathroom and someone hit me.”

“We’ve alerted hospital security,” Elaine says. Ben looks around. He sees Bud rubbing his reddened knuckles in front of his rumpled shirt and Anne chewing on her fingernails on the couch.

“Where is Nat?” Ben asks slowly. Everyone becomes stricken. “Where is my son?”

“He was with Margaret,” Anne says. “We don’t know what happened-”

“Hospital security is on it, SHIELD showed up on Brewster’s orders,” Bud interrupts. “We think he’s gone after a suspect.”

“You’ve failed him too,” Rogers says. Ben can’t breathe. “Your son is missing, because you can’t take care of him. It’s your fault. You’re going to have to tell your wife that he’s gone and it’s all your fault.”

“What’s the- what was the last you heard?” Ben says, chest tight. 

“That’s all we know right now,” Elaine says. She stands up to look at Ben with sympathetic eyes. “Agent Brewster is on it, and you know he is very, very good.”

“Not good enough to make up for you being stupid,” Rogers says. “You’ve fucked it up. You fuck everything up.”

“How’s Eliza?” Anne says. She puts her hands between her legs to keep from chewing on her nails.

“She- she’s fine. The baby is fine,” Ben says, trying to focus. “It’s a girl. We’ve named her Susannah Abigail.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” Margaret says. “The drugs didn’t do any harm?”

“Not as far as we can tell. They’re going to do more tests- no one’s heard anything from Caleb or SHIELD?” Ben says. Everyone else shakes their heads. 

“It just happened a little while ago,” Bud says. “Not even fifteen minutes.”

“Why didn’t anyone come tell us?” Ben says. “We were out of the OR fifteen minutes ago, someone could have-”

“Benjamin Tallmadge?” Ben turns around to see the same redhead he’d seen at the Triskelion, standing in the doorway of T.J.’s hospital room. “Phil Coulson sent me over from SHIELD. He just got word from Agent Brewster that your son has been recovered. He’s unharmed and Agent Brewster is on the way to return him.” Ben’s chest unclenches. 

“Oh thank god,” someone mutters behind him. 

“Where was he? Who took him?” Ben says. 

“We’re still working on the details, sir, I’m sure Agent Brewster will fill you in,” the woman says. “We just wanted to let you know that your son was all right. I can also tell you that the person who drugged your wife and who vandalized the Barrish house was apprehended.”

“It was all the same person?” Elaine says in disbelief. 

“Apparently so, Madam Secretary,” the woman says. “He’s in custody now, being taken in for processing. They had to treat him for being shot first- I hear Agent Brewster was less merciful than he could have been.” She smirks. 

“He had to do your dirty work for you, Tallboy,” Rogers says. “Brewster had to go save your kid while you watched the doctors fix your mess with your wife.”

“Thank you, Agent… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Ben says. 

“Didn’t drop it,” the woman replies. “Agent Romanoff. I work with Agent Coulson. Can I walk you back to your wife’s room?” 

“Yes, I’d best get back before someone else tells her what happened,” Ben says with a nod. “Let us know if T.J. wakes up, yeah?” He directs this to Anne, who nods.

“I’ll come up myself,” she says. “Will you bring Nat by when you get him back?”

“Of course,” Ben says. “Agent Romanoff?” He turns back to Romanoff. She starts walking off and Ben joins her. 

“What didn’t you want to say in front of my in-laws?” Ben asks once they’re out of earshot of the room.

“Hmm. I wasn’t sure you’d caught that,” Romanoff says. “What I didn’t think you’d appreciate me saying was that Agent Brewster and Captain Rogers found Nathaniel in the home of one Christopher Johnson, where the Senator was attempting to use the boy as payment for a demon deal.”

“Well, that explains quite a bit,” Ben says sourly. “At least we don’t have to worry about him getting any custody, do we?”

“You would never have to. My partner was about ready to go assassinate him, failing all other measures,” Romanoff answers. “He’s very fond of Brewster, you know.”

“Caleb’s very fond of him too,” Ben says. “He’s been talking about having Barton over for dinner.” Romanoff smirks. “What?”

“Nothing, just imagining Barton at your house,” she says. “He sends his congratulations, by the way, him and Coulson and Director Fury.”

“That’s very kind of them. I know they’re busy,” Ben says. 

“Eh, it’s kind of blowing over now,” Romanoff says. “Just clean-up at this point. Thor’s gone, the Hulk’s gone into hiding, and Stark is…well, he’s still kind of fucked up, but he’s better than he was.”

“That’s good to hear. I like him well enough,” Ben says. “Eliza thinks of him like a brother.”

“Almost a brother-in-law, I heard,” Romanoff says. “Stark does love T.J., and Eliza. He won’t be happy to hear about all this.”

“He won’t,” Ben agrees. “None of us were.”

*

Romanoff handles telling Eliza about the Nat situation, thankfully. Ben can hardly say a word on it- he takes Susannah out of her cradle and holds her instead, mulling on how lucky he is that everything turned out all right. 

“Why am I not surprised Chris made a deal with a demon to be successful in politics?” Eliza says with a sigh. She leans back and looks at Ben on her left, watching him rock Susannah. “Thank God Caleb’s a genius and figured it all out.”

“Yeah, since you couldn’t,” Rogers says. Ben ignores him and studies Susannah’s face. She doesn’t have the same squished look that Nat did when he was born, but Ben figures that would the differences in exit.

“Two hundred-odd years of experience will make it a lot easier,” Romanoff says. “The whole contingent should be here in a few minutes. I’ve been asked to convey congratulations from Agent Barton, Agent Coulson, and Director Fury. Also former Director Carter, though I’m not sure how she knows about any of this.” 

“Peggy knows everything,” Eliza says with a small wave of dismissal. “I interviewed her for a paper once and she sends me letters from time to time. I should probably tell Steve that.”

“Probably,” Romanoff replies. “You’ll be getting round-the-clock protection until we’re sure Johnson didn’t have contingency plans. Agent Brewster is being given paternity leave so that he can stay home with your family, so Agent Coulson will be supervising the detail. Anything else we can do for you, just let us know.”

“You can’t take care of your family,” Rogers says. “Other people have to do it for you. What good are you, Tallmadge? You’re not good enough to be their father, their husband.” Susannah stays perfectly asleep in Ben’s arms, her eyelashes so light and fine against the pink of her cheeks. 

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” Eliza says. “Please tell everyone thank you, and we’re going to try to have you all over for dinner at some point. Probably not for a few months.”

“Don’t worry about that. You focus on your family for now,” Romanoff says. There’s some clamor from outside and they all look to the door. Susannah stirs as the door opens for Caleb, Nat, and Steve. 

“Mama!” Nat squirms in Caleb’s arms, looking totally fine. Ben feels a grin break out on his face as Caleb brings Nat over to Eliza’s bed. 

“My baby!” Eliza holds her arms out for Nat. Caleb sets the boy down and he crawls into Eliza’s lap. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here! Are you okay?”

“I’m good! Uncle Caleb found the bad guy and Steve let me ride on his shoulders!” Nat says. “You okay?”

“I’m okay. Are you ready to meet your baby sister?” Eliza says. 

“Huh?” Ben brings Susannah over. Caleb’s mouth drops open at the sight of her. Nat lifts his head up to look. 

“This is Susannah, your little sister,” Ben says, voice a little rougher than he expected. He bends down so Nat can see Susannah over the blankets. Nat comes off Eliza’s lap to get up on his knees. 

“Oh,” Nat says. “Oh, there’s a baby this time.” 

“Do you hear that, Benny Boy?” Rogers says as a mild horror dawns on Ben. “Your son was expecting this one to die just like the last one you put in Eliza. He had no faith in you either, and you didn’t even notice him hurting over it.”

“Yes, yes, there is a baby this time,” Caleb says. He reaches over to touch her face. “Ain’t she perfect?”

“Yeah,” Nat says. “Are they all this little?”

“You were littler,” Eliza says, stroking his head. 

“Nuh-uh!” Nat insists. Susannah waves a fist at his indignation. “Oh!”

“I think I’ll take my leave,” Romanoff says. “Captain Rogers, are you all right here?”

“He’s not allowed to leave, we haven’t thanked him yet!” Eliza says. She holds out an arm. “You can go in a moment if you want, Steve, but let me hug you first.” Steve blushes, a red that goes all the way to the tips of his ears. He comes over and bends down awkwardly to let Eliza hold him. Nat turns around and kisses the top of Steve’s head. Caleb laughs.

“Thank you so much, Steve,” Eliza says, letting him go. Steve smiles.

“You’re welcome, though I mostly just did what Brewster told me to do,” he says. 

“That’s more than enough,” Ben says. “Caleb, here, take Susannah.” Caleb holds his arms out and Ben carefully passes the baby to her other father. Caleb’s face is utterly delighted as he holds Susannah. Ben goes to Steve.

“You have no idea how grateful we are,” he says. “As long as you don’t mind being woken up by a baby crying, you can stay with us as long as you like. We might need an extra pair of hands.”

“That’s really kind of you, Ben,” Steve says. “I may take you up on that, depending on my options.” Ben takes Steve by the arm and pulls him into a hug. The embrace is tight and actually makes Ben feel better. It seems to do Steve some good too, Ben notes as they part. He looks a little lighter. 

“Oi, Cap, I’ll be back with Nat sometime tonight, you can stay at the house tonight,” Caleb says. “We gotta spend a little time with our new princess first-” He nuzzles Susannah with his beard and she yelps in protest. They all laugh, except Caleb, who’s pretending to be affronted. “Listen, you.”

“She’ll get used to it,” Eliza says.


	19. Ben Eight

Steve leaves with Romanoff after that. Ben doesn’t blame him- Steve’s probably even more exhausted than Ben, who would love nothing more than to sleep for days. If nothing else, it would keep Rogers from nagging him about how much of a failure he is. 

Ben’s starting to think about bringing Nat down to T.J.’s room when there’s a knock at the door. Ben goes over to answer it while Caleb hands Susannah back to Eliza. 

“Yes?” Ben says, opening the door. He’s greeted by the sight of T.J. in a wheelchair being pushed by Bud.

“Hey, man,” T.J. says with a tired smile. “Can we come in?” Anne and Margaret peer around Bud’s shoulders, carrying bright things.

“Absolutely,” Ben says, grinning back. He pulls the door open all the way so Bud can push the chair in. Eliza and Caleb’s faces light up when they see T.J.

“Hey!” Eliza says. “When did you wake up?”

“About ten minutes ago. He insisted on coming to see you as soon as the doctors said okay,” Bud says, wheeling T.J. up to her bedside. “How’s my newest grandbaby?”

“Perfect, of course.” Eliza leans down so T.J. can see Susannah. He gapes. Anne and Margaret come over, carrying flowers and a teddy bear respectively.

“Holy shit. Are all babies this small?” T.J. asks. 

“Nat was smaller,” Ben says. Nat makes a face at that. 

“So were you, T.J.,” Margaret says. “You and Dougie, though that’s mostly because you were twins.”

“She’s beautiful,” Anne adds. “Ben said her name is Susannah?”

“Susannah Abigail,” Eliza says. “For Ben’s mother and a dear friend of ours.” 

“That’s a great name,” Margaret says. She looks at Nat, still sitting next to his mother. “I sure am glad to see you, squirt. You all right?”

“Uh-huh,” Nat says, nodding fervently. “I got a sister.”

“Yes, you do. And I got you this friend to help you out with her,” Margaret says. She holds the bear out to him and Ben can see the guilt in her eyes. 

“Margaret, none of what happened was your fault,” he says as Nat takes the bear. She shrugs.

“Seriously, Mrs. Barrish. I’d have gone down if someone came at me the way that they came after you,” Caleb adds. “I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it- Nat’s just fine.”

“And we’re all very happy about that,” Bud says. He reaches over and rubs Nat’s head. “You scared us, honey boy.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Nat says, scowling. He holds the bear closer. 

“You stayed safe, that’s what matters,” Caleb says. 

“Eliza, where would you like these?” Anne asks, cutting off that particular line of conversation. She’s put the flowers in a vase, which she’s now holding up to the light as if she can’t see the colors. Ben loves Anne.

“Oh, there’s a table behind Caleb that’d be perfect, Anne,” Eliza says. “Thank you so much.”

“I actually have better gifts for you, but they’re at home and I haven’t had the chance to get them yet,” Anne says. She brings the vase around the bed to the designated table. “I’ll bring them tomorrow, after we’ve all had a chance at some rest.”

“That sounds perfect,” Eliza says. “T.J., are you all right?” Ben turns back to T.J. to see him still staring at Susannah with a furrowed brow. 

“She’s just so little,” he says. “She’s so little and the world’s so big. And I almost didn’t get to see her.”

“But you did,” Eliza says in a soft voice. “And you’ll help us protect her, just like you’ve done Nat.” T.J. looks up at her.

“So does that mean I can call her Susie?” he asks. 

“Absolutely not,” Eliza says in a deadpan voice and T.J. smiles like the little shite he is. Ben actually lets out a laugh. 

“Someone’s feeling better,” Caleb says, grinning. “She’ll get a shorter version eventually. Took two years for Ben to start using Nat instead of Nathaniel.”

“He likes Nat better,” Ben replies. 

“It must be a helluva lot easier to yell Nat across a room than Nathaniel,” Bud says. “Too many syllables. Same with Susannah- how about Sue, honey, how’d you feel about that one?” 

“If I wanted her to be called Sue, I would have said so,” Eliza says, getting testy. Bud raises his hands in surrender. “Has Douglas come home yet?”

“He just touched down in San Diego a little while ago,” Anne says. “His flight got delayed. I told him T.J. was up and you had the baby, but he doesn’t know about all the drama yet. I figured it could wait a little while.”

“I imagine he would agonize over not being around to help,” Ben says. “He tries to take the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

“Yeah, I don’t know anyone like that,” Caleb says drily. 

*

The Hammonds don’t stay long. They take turns holding Susannah, everyone but Margaret, who says she’s still shaky from before. She does show Anne and T.J. how to hold a baby, correcting their arms and helping them support Susannah’s head. T.J. is absolutely delighted to hold Susannah. He talks to her about her nursery and how great her family is. It’s wonderful to watch, even if Robert Rogers refutes every word T.J. says about Ben.

Finally, the extended family leaves so T.J. can check in with his doctors and Eliza can feed Susannah. Nat is fascinated by Eliza nursing the baby. He watches from Ben’s lap, both of them seated next to Eliza’s bed. Caleb’s on the other side, switching between his phone and his tablet to sort out all the mess with Chris Johnson. Ben’s happy he no longer has to worry about Johnson demanding custody anymore. He keeps a tight hold on his son as Robert Rogers continues to harangue him. 

“All in all, today isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been,” Eliza says. 

“Could have been better, if you could actually do anything useful,” Robert Rogers reminds Ben. 

“Everyone’s safe and healthy, Johnson’s out of the picture, and Mom didn’t crash the birth,” Eliza continues. 

“Had she threatened to do that?” Caleb asks absently.

“Oh, yeah, she was insisting I’d need her. I told her all I needed was Ben,” Eliza says, smirking. 

“That’s not true by a long shot,” Robert Rogers sneers. 

“Stop being mean!” Nat exclaims suddenly. For a moment, Ben thinks he’s talking to Robert Rogers, but that’s impossible. 

“I wasn’t being mean, baby,” Eliza says, confused. 

“Not you, him!” Nat points to Robert Rogers. Ben’s jaw drops.

“You can see him too?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would apologize for leaving you like this for a week, but I've been working up to this for like one hundred pages so I'm not sorry. Muahaha.


	20. Eliza Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why Eliza ended up with the least POVs, but I swear they all get the same amount of pages in the document...

“Ben,” Caleb says slowly. “Please tell me you did not just say what I think you just said.” Ben blanches as sound drains from the room. Even Susannah stops nursing. 

“I-I didn’t- I- I-”

“Ben,” Eliza says. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together. Just-” She takes a deep breath to steady herself. “-tell us what’s going on.” Ben’s face is drawn, and he doesn’t speak right away. 

“There’s a ugly guy saying mean things to Daddy!” Nat answers for him, still pointing at thin air. 

“What guy?” Eliza asks. 

“R-Robert Rogers,” Ben says finally. “He’s been haunting me. I didn’t- no one else has seen him before- Nat’s never seen-”

“If Nat can see him now, that means he’s not a hallucination or anything of the like,” Caleb says, putting the phone and the tablet away. He gets up and walks over to where Nat’s pointing. “Am I near him?”

“You’re behind him,” Nat says. “He’s gross. I don’t like him.”

“Nobody likes him,” Caleb says. “What happens if I do this?” He takes a bottle of holy water out of his pocket and tosses the water forward. It hits the floor with a splatter.

“Nothing,” Ben and Nat say together. Caleb scowls. 

“Damn. I’ll have to call Diomara, see if she can figure out what this is,” he says. “Nat, how long have you been able to see this guy?”

“Just today,” Nat says. 

“And how long have you been able to see him, Ben?” Eliza asks. Ben hesitates, biting his bottom lip. “Ben, how long?”

“Little over three months,” he answers. It’s hard to breathe for a second- Ben’s been dealing with this…whatever for three months, all by himself, and Eliza didn’t notice. 

“I’m going to go call Diomara,” Caleb says, looking as stricken as Eliza feels. “I’ll be right back.” He goes to the door. Ben flinches when it shuts. 

“Ben,” Eliza says, shifting the baby who has no interest in nursing anymore. Ben won’t meet her eyes. “Ben, it’s okay. We’re going to figure this out. It’s not your fault.” 

“I’ve upset you both,” Ben says. “That’s the last thing I wanted.” 

“You didn’t upset us,” Eliza says. She pulls up the sleeve of her hospital gown. “We wish you had told us a little earlier, but we’re not upset with you.”

“I couldn’t,” Ben says. “I was afraid…I thought you’d have to send me away if I were crazy.”

“No!” Nat throws his arms around Ben’s neck. Ben holds onto him.

“Nat’s right,” Eliza says. “We’d never send you away. Besides, treatment for mental illness is much better now. Turns out that’s not going to help the situation, but that would have been fine if it were the case.” Ben nods, holding onto Nat tightly. He still won’t look Eliza in the eye, and she wants nothing more than to take him in her arms and will Robert Rogers away. Sadly, the universe doesn’t work that way.

There’s a knock on the door and it opens before either adult can say a word. Elaine walks in. She seems tired, more tired than Eliza can remember seeing her before. 

“Congratulations,” Elaine says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you, the President wanted me in the Situation Room.” Story of my life, Eliza thinks.

“That’s all right, I was fine,” she says instead. “The surgeons did most of the work, anyway.” Elaine nods.

“And everything is all right now? No complications?” she asks. 

“We’re fine,” Eliza says. Her voice is a little shorter than she’d normally let it be, and Elaine looks stung.

“Yes, I suppose I owe you an apology,” she admits, and that throws Eliza for a loop. Elaine doesn’t usually acknowledge she’s done something wrong. “I’ve been read in on the…Johnson business, and it seems as though you were right to keep him at bay. He’s clearly not a person you want in your child’s life. I’m sorry I made such a fuss over you keeping that relationship…discreet, and for the things we said at Douglas and Anne’s dinner. They were uncalled for.” Eliza’s eyebrows must be in her hairline now. She doesn’t know what to say. This has never happened before.

“I also think I owe you an apology, Ben,” Elaine says, turning to Ben. Nat is still clinging to Ben’s neck, but Ben is staring at Elaine with a furrowed brow. “My behavior made it seem as though your relationship with Nathaniel was unimportant. It is very important, and you’re a far better father than the other option would be. I’m sorry if I hurt you with all the fuss.”

“Thank you, Elaine,” Ben says. “I appreciate your apology.” 

“Yeah, apology accepted,” Eliza says, voice dulled with shock. She looks at Susannah, who’s drifting off, utterly oblivious to what’s going on. “Would you, uh, like to hold Susannah? Everyone else got a chance.”

“Yes, I would.” Elaine leans down to take Susannah from Eliza with gentle hands. Susannah stirs a little, her fist escaping her blankets. Elaine makes cooing sounds.

“Oh, it’s all right, sweetie. It’s just your grandma,” she says. “Aren’t you sweet? You look just like your mother did.” In that moment, Eliza’s only thought is that she never, ever wants her daughter to feel like she does in this moment. 

*

Caleb comes back shortly after Elaine leaves. Ben’s standing over by the bassinet where Susannah is dozing and Nat is sitting with Eliza, curled up against her.

“Right, so I talked to Diomara. She’ll be here in a few,” Caleb says, coming over to Ben’s side. “First things first, she says we need to figure out the source of this thing.” Caleb puts a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “So, when Diomara gets here, I’ll take Nat over to T.J.’s room. She’ll work with Ben, then she’ll come up and work with Nat. This plan all right with the two of you?” 

“Seems all right to me,” Eliza says. “Ben?” Ben shrugs.

“I wouldn’t know the first thing about witchcraft,” he says. “I’ll do what Diomara says.” 

“That’s a strategy that always works for me,” Caleb says, some cheer coming into his voice. “It’ll be fine.”

“Please don’t patronize me,” Ben says, looking resigned. “I know this is terrible, don’t pretend it isn’t.”

“I’m not pretending anything. Diomara’s a miracle worker. You’ll see,” Caleb says. “You can tell that bastard Rogers to stuff it too. I don’t know what the hell he’s saying but it ain’t worth shit, you understand?” Ben nods. He looks a little better. 

“This will all be over soon,” Eliza says, rubbing Nat’s cheek with her thumb. “Diomara will fix it.”


	21. Eliza Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some blood in this chapter as well as some amateur surgery. It's nothing too graphic or violent, but just a headsup. I will also warn you I did absolutely no research into witchcraft for this.

Diomara arrives in a glittery haze, or at least that’s what it looks like to Eliza. It may have something to do with the pain meds. 

“You should have brought them all to me when they got here, Caleb,” Diomara say, swatting Caleb on the arm. “Winds of the Earth, there’s dark energy all over this place!”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Eliza says. Diomara turns to Eliza with a smile. 

“Oh, honey, it’s more of an indicator than anything. It just means there’s a problem,” she says. “Nothing I can’t handle.” She looks back at Caleb. “Take that boy of yours upstairs so I can work on your man, all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.” Caleb goes over to the bed and picks Nat up. Nat starts to whine in protest. “We’ll be back before you know it, bug. We’re just going to see your Uncle T.J., make sure he’s behaving himself.”

“Be good, Nat,” Ben says. 

“Tell Uncle T.J. to behave himself,” Eliza adds. Nat nods, still pouting a little. 

“See you in a minute,” he says. 

“See you, baby,” Eliza says. Caleb carries Nat out. Diomara takes Ben over to the chair he’d abandoned earlier. 

“Now, let’s figure out what this Scotsman is up to,” she says, pushing him down into the chair. “You said you’ve been seeing him for three months?” Diomara reaches into her bag while she talks. 

“Er, yes,” Ben says, trying to look anywhere but her cleavage. Eliza smirks. Diomara pulls out a small bottle and stands up. She pours a little of the contents onto her fingers. 

“Do you remember the first time you heard him? Where you were?” Diomara asks. She dabs her fingertips against Ben’s forehead.

“The house- no, not really,” Ben says. He shuts his eyes as the liquid trickles down. “I was still sick. I was in the hospital and I thought I was having a nightmare. I heard him, but I didn’t recognize him until later.”

“In the hospital,” Diomara repeats, rifling through her bag again. “Hmm. But you’ve heard him in your house too?”

“Yes. Plenty of times,” Ben says. Diomara takes out a pendulum and a bowl. She holds them in one hand while pulling over the rolling table. 

“Your house has the best demon and monster protections in existence, which means that nothing should be able to get in, let alone talk to you,” Diomara says. She sets the bowl on the table. “Unless, of course, it’s attached to you specifically. That’s a different can of worms. You’re not gonna like this next part.”

“What’s the next part?” Eliza asks. Diomara takes a short but gleaming knife from her pocket. 

“Don’t panic, I only need a little bit of blood,” she says before either Tallmadge can react. “It’s like a doctor’s blood test, but with magic. Give me your arm, Ben.” Ben glances at Eliza, but holds out his arm. Diomara rolls up Ben’s sleeve. She holds his arm and the pendulum in one hand, and the knife in the other. Her knife makes a small, purposeful cut in Ben’s skin. Blood wells up quickly. Diomara turns Ben’s arm so the blood runs down into the bowl. Diomara presses the skin and the blood runs faster. 

“There we go,” Diomara says. She puts the knife down. Her hand goes into her bag again and brings out a patch of gauze. “You press that down, honey, it’ll stop the bleeding in no time.” Ben does. Diomara takes the pendulum and holds it up over the bowl. 

“This is gonna tell me if there’s a foreign substance hiding behind your presence,” she says. “Just gonna take a little look see.” The pendulum swings in a circle over Ben’s blood. Diomara starts humming. Eliza is sure now that her life couldn’t become any weirder. 

“Do you have to do that?” Ben says, shutting his eyes tightly. Diomara nods, still humming. Ben grits his teeth and Eliza balls her fists. Finally, Diomara stops humming.

“There we are,” she says, bending down to look at the bowl. “Ooh, you’re a clever little bastard, aren’t you?”

“What is it?” Eliza asks as Ben unclenches his teeth. 

“It’s a remora,” Diomara says.

“It’s a fish?” Eliza says, sure that can’t be right. 

“No, not the fish. We named it after the fish,” Diomara says quickly. “It’s a little icon that links back to the spellcaster- in this case, a demon- and gives whoever touches it unfettered access to the caster. Someone hid it under Ben’s skin to get past all the warding on your house.”

“Under my skin?” Ben says. Diomara blows on the bowl.

“Yeah, looks like it’s behind your…left knee,” she says, squinting at the bowl. “Easy to miss, but easy to get out.” Diomara gets on the floor next to Ben’s chair. “Leg up, please.” Ben lifts his left leg, bracing his foot on the bedrail. “Roll up the pants, I gotta get to the back of your knee.” Diomara takes the knife from the table as Ben rolls up his pant leg. Eliza watches Diomara grip Ben’s calf with a calloused hand. It’s both laughably awkward and terribly awful to watch Diomara bend and twist for the best view of the knee’s underside. 

“It’ll just hurt for a second,” Diomara promises. She lifts the knife to Ben’s skin. Ben looks steadfastly at the wall behind Eliza. Eliza just wants to hold him.   
Ben flinches as Diomara cuts into his skin. There’s a gross squelching noise and Diomara pulls something small from Ben’s flesh. 

“There it is, the little shit,” she says with some triumph. “Give me that gauze, Ben?” Ben takes the gauze from his arm to show the cut was healed over. He hands the gauze to Diomara and she presses the clean side to the cut she’d just made.

“Hold that there.” Ben does as he’s told. Diomara stands up with the knife and the small object she’d retrieved. It’s a quarter-sized circle, stained with red, but Eliza can see the darkened wood underneath. 

“That should take care of the Scotsman,” Diomara says, putting the knife and the circle on the table. She goes into her bag again. “I’ll destroy this once I know who’s behind it, but in the meantime, you should be okay. I’ve got these-” Diomara pulls out three small bottles and sets them on the table. “-for all of you, to be sure. There’s one for Ben, one for Eliza, one for Nat. You take a teaspoon each day, flushes out any demonic substances you might have been exposed to. Eliza, yours is safe for baby, I double-checked.” Diomara then takes a small black bag from her large one. She picks up the circle and puts it in the black bag. After tying it off, she drops the black bag back into the big bag. 

“So that’s it?” Eliza asks. 

“That’s it. If there’s any lingering Scottish hanging around, you let me know right away,” Diomara says. She wipes off the knife with some tissue, which she then drops in the bowl of blood. “Ben, how’s the knee?” Ben moves the gauze. 

“Healed, it would seem. What is this thing?” he says, holding up the gauze.

“It’s bespelled gauze. Only works on superficial cuts, nothing major,” Diomara answers. She takes the gauze from him and puts it the bowl too. Then she picks up the bowl and heads for the biohazard bin. 

“Do you still see Robert Rogers?” Eliza says to Ben, who’s rolling down his pant leg. Ben pauses.

“No. I don’t hear him either,” he says. “He comes and goes, though.”

“He won’t be coming back,” Diomara says. She dumps the contents of her bowl into the biohazard bin and lets the lid go back down with clatter. “You should be all clear.” Diomara comes back to the table. She stuffs the bowl in her bag. “These bottles are labeled. Your doctors probably won’t like them, but they don’t know jack shit about demons. There isn’t anything they can call harmful in the bottles anyway. Just put them in your baby bag or whatever.”

“Right,” Eliza says. “Thank you, Diomara.”

“Thank you,” Ben says. Diomara waves a hand as she shoulders her bag. 

“It’s what I do, honey. I protect people from monsters,” she says. “I’m going to go check on the boy now, but I have a feeling he was just picking up on the vibes. Kids can be super-sensitive to these things.”

“I hope you’re right,” Eliza says. 

“Usually am. You take care of yourselves, now. And drink the elixirs I gave you, that’ll make sure everything’s copacetic,” Diomara says. She heads for the door and leaves. Ben and Eliza look at each other. 

“Are you all right?” Eliza asks. 

“I think so,” Ben says. “I can’t believe it’s that easy, though.”

“She cut something out of your leg,” Eliza says. Ben shrugs.

“It still feels too easy.”

*

Turns out, it was a little too easy.

Caleb brings back Nat and T.J. a little while after Diomara leaves. Nat and T.J. look happy enough, the former sitting in T.J.’s lap as Caleb wheels them in. 

“Do you actually need the wheelchair or is that the nurse’s insistence?” Eliza asks T.J.

“It was the only way they’d let me come to see you,” he says. “Did you know witches could be that hot?”

“I was under the assumption they were people just like anyone else,” Eliza replies. 

“How did things go with Diomara?” Ben says to Caleb.

“Excellent. Nat’s hasn’t been touched by the demon who’d been bugging you at all,” Caleb says. He doesn’t look thrilled, and both of his spouses give him a look. 

“Then how’d he see Robert Rogers?” Eliza says. Caleb sighs. 

“Well, Diomara says he’s an empath,” he says. “Which doesn’t mean he’s sensitive to other people’s feelings, it means he literally senses what they’re feeling.” The adults all turn to Nat, who’s thoughtfully chewing on a granola bar. 

“That explains so much,” Ben says in a hushed voice.

“I thought he just didn’t like shouting,” Eliza says, heart sinking. “Oh, God, how did we not figure that out?”

“Because there aren’t any parenting manuals that tell you when your kid has superpowers,” T.J. says casually. “I Googled it.”

“T.J.’s right. No way to notice something you’ve never heard of,” Caleb says. “Even I didn’t think of it, and I deal with magic all day.”

“Yeah, but I spend all day with Nat, I should have noticed something,” Eliza says, working her hands together. 

“Mom didn’t figure out Dougie was lactose intolerant for ten years, so you’re already ahead of her,” T.J. says. 

“That’s not helping,” Caleb says as Eliza squeezes her hands white.

“All we can do now is figure out how best to deal with it,” Ben says in a surprisingly calm voice. “My issue is supposedly fixed now, so we can focus on Nat and Susannah.” Eliza nods. 

“And Captain America,” Caleb adds. 

“And Steve, yes,” Ben says. “Though to be fair, Steve can mostly handle himself.”

“Yes, hopefully, Steve can feed, dress, and bathe himself,” Eliza says, giving a weak smile.

“He’s not allowed to take my position as the fun uncle,” T.J. says. He leans down to kiss Nat on the head, and Nat grins at him. 

“Somehow I doubt the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan is going to be more fun than you,” Caleb says. “His idea of a good time is storming a Nazi fortress.”

“Cool,” Nat says. 

“No storming fortresses until you’re eighteen,” Eliza says quickly. Nat pouts as the adult men laugh. “Steve can teach you how to draw if he likes, but he’s not allowed to take you to fight Nazis.”

*

Douglas shows up that evening, apologizing profusely. He has apparently decided to blame himself for the drugs in the iced tea, which they all tell him is ridiculous. Eliza assures Douglas that she forgives him anyway. She gets him to hold Susannah and he starts to calm down. It also helps that Ben and Caleb usher T.J. back upstairs where he can’t keep demanding Douglas calm down. 

“How do you do it?” Douglas asks, sitting at the end of Eliza’s bed. Susannah is chilling in his arms and Nat hangs out next to him, coloring.

“Do what?” Eliza says, watching them all. 

“I don’t know. Everything,” Douglas says. “You’re a great mom, you help T.J., you balance Ben and Caleb, and you’re so calm all the time. How do you do it?” Eliza gives him a tired smile.

“Oh, Douglas, if only you’d be here earlier,” she says. “I’m not calm all the time. Not even close. I just pretend I am. It’s the only way to get through things sometimes.”

“But how?” Douglas presses. “How can you just act like nothing’s wrong when everything is?”

“Practice, mostly,” Eliza says. “I was always told to shut up and smile when we were kids, and then when I got to the war, it was the easiest thing to do. It becomes natural.” 

“I should have guessed,” Douglas says with a bitter smile. “Mom and Dad really messed us up, huh?”

“Yeah,” Eliza agrees. “Yeah, they did. The only way to fix it is to break patterns. Ben and Caleb help me do that. Getting away from Mom and Dad helps me do that.” Douglas opens his mouth to protest. “I’m not saying we should abandon them altogether. It just helps to have some distance.”

“Uh-huh,” Douglas says. “Do you ever- do you ever worry if you’re going to turn into them?” There’s something vulnerable in his voice and Eliza is struck by the honesty of the question.

“Sometimes,” she answers. “Sometimes. It’s less often than I used to.”

“What do you do when that happens?” Douglas says. Susannah stirs in his arms and they stop to look at her. Nat puts down his crayon.

“Shush, Sannah. Grown-ups are talking,” he says. Susannah makes a grumbling sort of sound but settles. Douglas laughs. 

“T.J. used to do that,” he says. “He used to talk to you when you were a baby, tell you that things were okay, that Mom was coming with your bottle, that you were his special baby Liza. He was good with you. I was always too nervous. I made you cry.”

“I didn’t know that,” Eliza says, smiling. “Is that why you guys call me Liza?” 

“Yeah, it’s one reason,” Douglas says. “That and Dad can’t call anyone by their given names. Has to be a nickname.”

“There is that,” Eliza says. “I text you.”

“Huh?” Douglas raises his brow.

“When I worry about being like Mom and Dad, I text you and T.J.,” Eliza says. “I ask how you’re doing, coz that’s the one thing they never do, asking how we are and actually caring about the answer.”

“Oh, God,” Douglas says. He shakes his head, smiling. “You’re right. I didn’t even think about it. I was wondering why you would send me those.” 

“The best way to not be like them is to take care of each other,” Eliza says. “God knows they aren’t very good at it.” Douglas laughs. 

“Yeah. Yeah, they’re not,” he says. “I like that plan. Us, your kids, your…husbands. Anne. We take care of each other.”


	22. Eliza Seven

Thankfully, there are no more surprises while Eliza, Susannah, and T.J. are in the hospital. A couple of reporters try to get in, but Phil Coulson personally reports to Eliza that they were caught easily. Anne and Steve seem to make it their mission to assist the Tallmadge-Brewster family however they can; Anne brings things to and from the hospital while Caleb reports that Steve is keeping the house spick and span in preparation for their homecoming. Caleb and Nat are the only two there with him, so there can’t be that much mess. Ben mostly stays with Eliza and Susannah. He says he hasn’t seen Robert Rogers since Diomara’s intervention, but he’s still nervous.

*

The day Eliza and T.J. are released, Bud insists on coming with them. Ben and Caleb were already coming, but Bud wants to be there as well. He takes T.J.’s wheelchair while Ben pushes Eliza. Caleb has the baby carrier with Susannah in it and Nat rides with Eliza. 

As they get to the glass-walled lobby, it becomes clear that reporters have swarmed the pavilion in front of the hospital. T.J. sighs heavily.

“Someone from the hospital must have tipped them off,” Bud says. 

“I just can’t stop embarrassing you, can I?” T.J. says. 

“You’re not embarrassing, you spoon,” Caleb says. “You’re sick, is all. Addiction’s a disease.”

“Yeah, you’re not the one in the diaper,” Eliza adds. 

“T.J., Eliza, I got some experience with these assholes when they want me to be ashamed of myself,” Bud says. “Stand up, come on.” He comes around to give T.J. a hand. Ben takes Nat from Eliza and Caleb gives a hand to Eliza. Standing up is easier than it had been, but it’s still not fun. 

“Now, you know what I did when these vultures came after me?” Bud says, taking off his tie. He loops it around T.J.’s neck and ties it for T.J. “I used to imagine you two and Dougie waving at me. We got Nat and Susannah with us, but we just focus on them and everything will be all right.” Bud grins at them. T.J. turns to Ben.

“Can I?” He holds out his arms. 

“Of course,” Ben says. He hands Nat to T.J. The boy immediately hugs T.J.’s neck. Caleb hands the baby carrier to Ben. 

“Here. You take her, I’ll take the rear,” Caleb says. 

“Okay. We can do this,” Bud says with a smile. He goes to put a hand on Eliza, who can think of nothing she would like less. Ben gets an arm around Eliza’s waist first, and they start walking ahead. 

Like a recurring nightmare, walking out of the hospital this time is not terribly different from the last. It’s much hotter, but there’s still a wave of noise and flashes of cameras. Ben’s arm tightens around Eliza and she holds onto his hand. It feels like walking through a cage of predators- they can’t reach Eliza, but she can still smell their hot breath in her face. An image of Jurassic Park comes to mind, the scene where the kids are hiding from the velociraptor in the kitchen. Then Eliza remembers how much Ben hates that movie and she almost laughs. 

Bud’s security detail ushers them into one of the two SUVs he’d brought. One of the agents helps Eliza into the car. Then she takes the baby carrier from Ben and sets the carrier in the car seat attachment. Eliza sits down on one side of the car seat and Ben sits on the other.

“Nat’s going in the other car with T.J. and Caleb,” he says. 

“They’ll take good care of him.” Eliza puts on her seatbelt and turns to Susannah. The baby is glaring at the hood of her carrier with her deep blue eyes. “Oh, someone’s already developed a dislike for the Press.” 

“Well, she’s a smart one,” Ben says. The doors shut and the car starts moving. Susannah squeaks in surprise. “See? I told you cars are weird.”

*

The SUVs drop the Tallmadge-Brewsters off at their house. T.J. is supposed to go directly to Elaine’s house, which he’s not happy about, but he goes without protest.

“God, it is so nice to be home,” Eliza sighs when they walk in. “And it’s so clean! We are so keeping Steve!”

“I think we have to ask him first,” Ben says. They come into the living room, where Steve is reading one of Ben’s history books. He looks up with a grin. 

“Welcome back,” Steve says, setting the book aside. He stands as Nat runs up. 

“Steve! We brought Sannah home!” Nat says. “Look!” He grabs onto Steve’s leg, pointing to the baby carrier. 

“Wow!” Steve says. The adults come over to the couch. Eliza reaches for Steve and he bends down for her. She kisses his cheek.

“You are a godsend. Thank you so much for all your help,” Eliza says, stepping back. 

“It actually helped me sort out things in my head, so thanks for letting me,” Steve says. “How are you feeling?”

“Trust me when I say you do not want any details on that. I thought natural birth sucked,” Eliza says. “Overall, fine.” Steve nods.

“Would you like to meet the fruit of Eliza’s labor?” Caleb says as Ben takes Susannah out of her carrier. Eliza shoves Caleb. 

“Sure,” Steve says. Ben brings Susannah over and Steve smiles down at her. “Christ, she looks like a doll.”

“Seems to be the only way Eliza makes ’em,” Caleb says. 

“I would love to take credit, but I have no control over that part of the process,” Eliza says. “We just got lucky.”

*

Douglas shows up on their doorstep not three hours after they’ve been home. Nat had just followed Ben up the stairs to put her in her bassinet, and Caleb had just gone to get T.J., so it’s only Steve and Eliza in the living room when the front door opens. They stop talking about the backyard as heavy, quick steps lead in. Douglas comes in with red eyes and balled fists. 

“Douglas, what’s wrong?” Eliza says, sitting up straight on the couch. Douglas starts walking over, voice hitching.

“I told Mom- I told her I was leaking information to Susan Berg- I thought she couldn’t win and then I tried to back out- I did everything-” He falls to his knees in front of Eliza, face in his hands as he tries not to cry. Eliza reaches for him as much as her stitches will allow.

“Oh, Douglas,” she says, ruffling his hair. “Douglas, I can’t reach you down there, come sit next to me so I can hug you, come on.” Eliza takes one of his arms and Douglas lets her lead him up to the couch. Steve has mysteriously vanished by the time Eliza looks over again, so she just puts her arms around her brother.

“I tried to protect us- I just wanted to protect us-” Douglas starts to sob, and Eliza holds him tight. She can only imagine what Elaine said to Douglas when he confessed, but she knows it can’t have been pretty. 

“I know, Douglas, I know,” Eliza says. “She doesn’t deserve you. You did everything she ever asked of you. You don’t deserve her treating you like this.” 

“I let her- I let her have so much of my life so she’d be happy-”

“You did. You deserve better, Douglas,” Eliza says, rubbing a circle on his back like she does Nat. “You are so good. You’ve done so much to help us. You deserve a wedding the way you want it, a life the way you want it. You’ve earned that and so much more.” Douglas just cries into her shoulder, his whole body heaving. Eliza shuts her eyes and swears she’ll never forgive her mother for this.

*

Douglas stops crying by the time Caleb comes back with T.J. Nat has claimed a spot in Douglas’ lap, which annoys T.J. a little. Anne shows up a little while later. Neither her nor T.J. say anything about the red in Douglas’ eyes, if they notice. T.J. only stops pouting about Nat picking Douglas when they bring Susannah back down and he gets to hold her. 

Steve apparently has a plan for dinner already, and they can’t convince him not to cook for them. Part of it, Eliza thinks, is an unwillingness to look at T.J. more than he has to; Caleb had shown him a picture already and explained the relationship between the Hammonds and Bucky. That can’t have made it much easier for Steve to see his dead best friend’s face on another person. Eliza can’t imagine having to deal with that herself. 

When Steve’s nearly done cooking, Douglas takes Nat into the dining room to set the table. Eliza can hear Douglas teaching Nat about where the forks go as the others stay in the living room, chatting. Ben actually looks relaxed now. He hasn’t been this relaxed in a long time, and Eliza takes that as a sign that he no longer has a devil on his shoulder, whispering bad things in his ear. 

“All right, food’s up!” Steve calls. The adults start migrating to the kitchen to help Steve move the food out to the dining room. T.J. hands Susannah to Eliza, who carries her over to the dining room. The baby carrier is set up in a chair set awkwardly at the corner of the table in place of a high chair. Eliza puts Susannah in the carrier as Ben and Caleb bring in the serving dishes. Nat comes in behind them with serving utensils in his hands like batons. Douglas and Steve have more dishes while Anne and T.J. bring in pitchers. The food is set on the table and Eliza doesn’t have to do a thing but sit. She usually works with one of her husbands to make dinner, but this is nice. 

Eliza sits at the head of the table. Ben sits on the other side of Susannah before helping Nat on to the seat next to him. T.J. sits opposite Ben, Douglas next to him, and then Anne at the end. Steve sits at the far end of the table and Caleb sits between him and Nat. 

The food is pretty good for a guy who grew up in the Depression. Steve admits that he’s been going over the cookbooks and recipe cards Eliza keeps to be sure he knew what he was doing. They congratulate him for a rousing success in that goal.

This is the first meal in which all three Hammond siblings are present without their parents. So, naturally, it becomes a mutual bitchfest about their parents. 

“And like, seriously? I’m a grown fucking man, I don’t need to be confined to the house,” T.J. says. “I’m not stupid. The only place I’m going to go is here.”

“Which is probably healthier for you anyway,” Anne remarks. 

“I am so done with our parents,” Douglas declares, to the nods of everyone at the table but Steve. “They ruined our childhoods. I’m not letting them ruin the rest of our lives too.”

“Amen to that,” Eliza says. “They have some nerve trying to be buddy-buddy with us after calling me a whore and sending T.J. to the hospital.”

“Yeah!” T.J. adds. 

“We planned our whole wedding around what Mom wanted!” Douglas says. “You know what? Screw that! Let’s have a wedding we like, Anne!”

“Can we?” Anne says, eyes lighting up. “I’d love to have something small and pretty.” 

“Yeah! Let’s do it!” Douglas says. 

“How small would you want it, Anne?” Ben asks.

“Ideally? I’d like my parents, you five, T.J., Steve, a few friends,” Anne says. Steve looks surprised and flattered to be included. “I don’t need anybody else.”

“Sounds perfect to me,” Douglas says firmly. “Nat can be the ringbearer. T.J.’s my best man.”

“Where would you want to have it?” Eliza says. 

“Outside would be nice,” Anne says. “Somewhere with lots of flowers…”

“Somewhere we could be sure the Press wasn’t going to come popping out of the bushes,” Douglas adds.

“The backyard here is nice,” Steve volunteers. They look at him and he flushes. “I mean, I went out there to see if it needed mowing and it seems like a good spot. It’s big and open.”

“Steve’s right. We could always bring in flowers for you, Anne,” Ben says.

“Yeah, maybe potted ones so you could take some back to your place too,” Caleb says. “Plant the rest as a garden, I know Eliza’s been wanting to have one.”

“That sounds perfect,” Anne says, looking at Douglas. He nods. 

“I like it. If it’s okay with all of you?” He looks at Eliza, who smiles back. 

“Hey, a dozen or so people in my backyard sounds way more fun than three hundred at a giant venue,” she answers. “I might have Steve do the setup, though, depending on how soon you want to do it.”

“The sooner you guys do it, the less likely it is anyone will find out and crash,” T.J. points out. “Particularly our parents.”

“Good point,” Douglas says. “Still, I don’t want Eliza to be passing out at the wedding or something. When are you supposed to be recovered?”

“Apparently week two after the C-section should find me feeling much better, barring emergencies,” Eliza says, tapping the wood of the table with her knuckles. She didn’t used to be superstitious, but after travelling through time twice, she’s decided not to take chances. 

“Okay, so we could do it then, if that’s okay with all of you,” Anne says. 

“We just need to find someone who will officiate and not tell Mom and Dad,” Douglas says.

“I know someone who might fit that bill,” Caleb says. 

“It’s not you, is it? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that,” Douglas says.

“I am,” Anne says. Douglas gives her an inquisitive look and she shrugs. “He fights demons. I don’t care what religion you are, that seems pretty official to me.”

“Thank you, but I am not actually able to marry people outside the confines of international waters and the apocalypse,” Caleb says. Eyebrows go up around the table. “Long story. Anyway, I was thinking Diomara. She’s licensed to marry people, she just does it the old way instead of a religious way.”

“Dude, that’s awesome,” T.J. says. “Is there anything she can’t do?”

“There are many things, Tommy Boy, else I wouldn’t be here,” Caleb says. “Point is she wouldn’t rat on you to your parents. Governments don’t mean much to witches.”

“We’ll have to think about that one,” Douglas says. 

*

Eliza is sent out of the dining room when she tries to help clean up. Ben takes the infant carrier out for her and sets it on the couch before telling her to sit her ass down. Nat comes out to keep Eliza company as the other adults clear the table.

“Mama, can we watch the Guppies?” Nat asks, settling on the couch next to his sister. “Sannah wants to watch the guppies.” Susannah is sleeping soundly and probably has no opinion on the kids’ show Nat’s talking about, but Eliza picks up the remote anyway. 

“Okay, one episode, then it’s bedtime,” she says. Eliza turns on the TV. She’s greeted by the image of a plane with its tail pointing up and its nose hidden in a dark ocean. Eliza’s first thought is to change the channel so Nat doesn’t realize what it is. Then she reads the words on the news banner and she drops the remote. A scream escapes Eliza before she can stop it. 

“Eliza!” There’s a clattering of dishes as people drop what they’re doing to run out. Susannah wails from behind Eliza, but all she can do is stare at the screen in horror. Caleb gets to Eliza first and put hands on her. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he says. Eliza points.

“Air Force One,” she says in a shaky voice as the others gather around. “It’s…it’s crashed.” Everyone turns to the television, where they can see the search lights spreading out over the icy black water. Susannah starts to calm down and a heavy quiet comes over them. 

“Mom wasn’t on the plane,” Douglas says in a dull voice. “She watched the President board.”

“Holy shit,” T.J. breathes. 

“The President,” Anne says, hushed. “The President is…gone.”

“Caleb, this doesn’t have anything to do with that stuff from the other day, does it?” Steve asks. 

“I-I can’t see how it would,” Caleb says. “This doesn’t help Johnson, it doesn’t help anyone. I think it’s just…bad luck.” Ben comes up to Eliza’s other side, Susannah in his arms. Nat grabs onto Eliza’s legs and her hand goes down to reach him. They all just stand there, staring at the downed plane and wondering.

What comes next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this part of the story. I'm still working out what happens next and when. Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see! I'm still hoping I can do that series of vignettes I promised you as well.


End file.
